Peru's total exports amounted to US$35.5 billion between January and September 2018, up by 11.5% over the same period last year, despite copper price decrease in recent months, the Foreign Trade and Tourism Ministry (Mincetur) informed.
These figures were mainly boosted by
non-traditional shipments, which exceeded US$9.6 billion, thus registering a 14.8% rise compared to the similar period in 2017.
"This scenario shows that, in spite of a difficult international situation, non-traditional exports will reach record-breaking figures in 2018 and surpass US$13 billion," Mincetur pointed out.
It should be noted most higher-added-value sectors have expanded their shipments, such as the farming, fishery, textiles, and metal-mechanic segments.
Agro-exports break record
On the other hand,
agro-exports —which make up 42% of non-traditional shipments— exceeded US$4 billion between January and September 2018, up 16.1% from the same period last year.
As for products, exports of avocados (US$775 million, +25%), grapes (US$310 million, +33%), mangoes (US$289 million, +36%), blueberries (US$207 million, +67%), tangerines (US$177 million, +13%), and chestnuts (US$56 million, +45%) stood out.
"Peru is on the path towards becoming one of the world's top ten fruit exporters," Mincetur expressed.
Fishery sector
The Inca country's non-traditional
fishery exports have also increased significantly. The sector's shipments expanded 42.3% in September and 30.2% between Jan-Sep (US$1.1 billion).
The top exported products were giant squids (+64%), canned fish (+33.2%), and shrimps (+9.4%).
Traditional exports
On the other hand,
traditional shipments amounted to US$25.9 billion in the aforementioned months, thus expanding 10.3% compared to the same period in 2017 (US$23.5 billion).
(END) MDV/DTK/MVB