Foreign Trade and Tourism Minister Juan Carlos Mathews predicted that Peruvian exports in 2023 will see the same level of sales reported in 2022, when they reached a record high of US$63.193 billion.
It should be noted that the final figures are not yet available and will be ready in a few days.
"Exports should be at the level of 2022; that might seem like a good result, of course, because sales used to grow steadily, except in 2020, which fell by more than 17% for obvious reasons (the COVID-19 pandemic)," Mathews explained.
"But 2023 was quite complicated, not only because of the slowdown of the global economy, but due to the reduction in global demand, with people making fewer purchases at lower prices and less frequently, which directly affects exports," he added.
"If we look at the rest of Latin America and the world, contractions have been much more severe. Here we must be more or less at levels similar to those of 2022," Mathews remarked.
The Cabinet member noted that minerals constituted 60% of total exports, while non-traditional products accounted for 76%.
"Minerals are the largest export item: gold, copper, silver, zinc, and molybdenum. As for non-mineral exports, the sector that had a notable performance was agro-export," he underlined.
The high-ranking official indicated that El Niño phenomenon affected the weather temperature, which led to lower production of some export fruits and lower fishing opportunities on some marine species.
Main markets
On the other hand, Minister Mathews explained that China is the main buyer of Peruvian exports, due to minerals.
However, the United States is the largest buyer of manufactured Peruvian goods other than minerals, such as fish meal, coffee, cotton, and sugar —products that have a greater value-added component.
"We are number one in grapes, blueberries, asparagus, organic bananas, and organic coffee; globally speaking, we rank second in avocados," he specified.
In this sense, Minister Mathews highlighted that Peru holds the 21st position as a global food supplier, and has become an important actor in the international food market.
The Mincetur head also explained that Peru has 22 Free Trade Agreements, is in the process of starting new FTAs with other countries, and modernizing the one it already has with China.
(END) MDV/RMB/MVB
Publicado: 8/1/2024