External trade in goods, January 2008

High prices of crude oil contributed to the strong trade surplus in January. The export quantity of crude oil came to 57 million barrels, a decrease of 19 million barrels compared with January 2007. With an average price of NOK 509 per barrel, compared with NOK 346 last year, the export value of crude oil ended at NOK 29.1 billion. Exports of natural gas came to NOK 15.3 billion, an increase of 6.2 per cent.

Seasonally adjusted figures

Seasonally adjusted figures for imports excluding ships and oil platforms show a decrease of 1.2 per cent in the last three months compared with the previous three-month period. Corresponding figures for exports excluding ships, oil platforms, crude oil, natural gas and condensates show an increase of 9.5 per cent.

Growth in imports of machinery and transport vehicles

The import value of goods excluding ships and oil platforms came to NOK 39.1 billion, a 5.6 per cent rise from January 2007. The rise was primarily a result of a NOK 2.1 billion increase in imports of machinery and transport equipment. More detailed figures show that this was caused by increased imports of road vehicles and general industrial machinery, ending at NOK 3.8 and NOK 2.4 billion respectively.

The growth in imports of machinery and transport vehicles was partly offset by a drop in imports of metalliferous ores and metal scrap. While the import value of metalliferous ores and metal scrap came to NOK 2.7 billion in January 2008, the corresponding value in January 2007 was NOK 3.5 billion. This represents a decrease of 24 per cent. Almost half of the imported metalliferous ores and metal scrap originated in Canada.

Increased exports of iron and steel

The export value of goods excluding ships, oil platforms, crude oil, natural gas and condensates came to NOK 30.1 billion in January 2008, 10.4 per cent higher than in January last year.

Several commodity groups contributed to this development. Exports of machinery and transport equipment increased by 9.2 per cent and resulted in an export value close to NOK 5.4 billion. In addition, exports of refined mineral products rose from NOK 3.0 billion in January 2007 to NOK 3.5 billion in January 2008.

Exports of manufactured goods fell by NOK 571 million, or 6.7 per cent, and ended at NOK 7.9 billion. This development is attributable to a decrease of NOK 900 million in exports of non-ferrous metals combined with a NOK 403 million increase in exports of iron and steel. The export value of these two groups was NOK 4.7 billion and NOK 1.3 billion respectively in January 2008.

Continued growth in Asian imports

In January, Norway’s imports of commodities from Asia amounted to NOK 5.2 billion, an increase of 7.5 per cent compared with the corresponding month last year. Of this, NOK 2.5 billion consisted of imports from China. The majority of the imports from China were articles of apparel and clothing accessories. In addition, the imports of office machines and automatic data processing machines from China were considerable. For instance, imports of laptops and cellular phones amounted to NOK 143 billion and NOK 59 billion respectively.

Tables:

• Table 1 Imports of commodities, ships and oil platforms excluded. January 2007 and 2008. Preliminary figures. NOK million
• Table 2 Exports of commodities, ships and oil platforms excluded. January 2007 and 2008. Preliminary figures. NOK million
• Table 3 Trade with countries and regional groups of countries. January 2007 and 2008. Preliminary figures. NOK million