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38025
Record exports of natural gas
statistikk
2008-04-15T10:00:00.000Z
External economy
en
muh, External trade in goods, import, export, balance of trade (export minus import), mainland exports, imports excluding ships and oil platforms, trade ( between countries, continents and trade regions), international product groups (for example hs, sitc and bec), product groups (for example food, crude oil and metals)External trade , External economy
false

External trade in goods, March 2008

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Record exports of natural gas

Norwegian imports came to NOK 36.2 billion in March, a 12.5 per cent decline compared with March 2007. Total exports reached NOK 75.2 billion, resulting in a trade surplus of NOK 39.1 billion. The strong trade surplus is attributable to increasing oil prices and high export of natural gas.

Exports of natural gas in March reached a record value of NOK 15.8 billion. Compared with 2007, this was an increase of almost NOK 2.3 billion, or 16.6 per cent.

The export value of crude oil accounted for 42.3 per cent of the total export value in March and ended at NOK 31.8 billion. Compared with 2007, this was an increase of 22.6 per cent. The average price of crude oil continued to rise and was NOK 544 per barrel in March, compared with NOK 388 in March last year. This is the highest price of oil ever recorded.

Note that the Easter holiday this year took place in March, as opposed to April last year. This should be taken into consideration when comparing figures for March and the period January-March 2008 with corresponding periods in 2007.

External trade in goods, excl. ships and oil platforms. NOK million
  January-March Change in per cent March Change in per cent
  2007 2008 2007 2008
1 Imports  112 374     115 070 2.4     41 336      36 158 -12.5
2 Exports  199 002  226 737 13.9 69 528 75 246 8.2
Of which            
Crude oil 74 288 89 795 20.9 25 947 31 804 22.6
Natural gas 40 905 46 226 13.0 13 545 15 797 16.6
Condensates 1 157 3 191  175.8 0  487 .
3 Exports excl. crude oil, natural gas and condensates 82 652 87 526 5.9 30 035 27 158 -9.6
4 Trade balance (2-1) 86 628  111 666 28.9 28 192 39 088 38.6
5 Trade balance excl. oil, natural gas and condensates (3-1) -29 722 -27 545 . -11 300 -9 000 .

Seasonally adjusted figures

Seasonally adjusted figures for imports excluding ships and oil platforms show a slight increase of 0.6 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 1.6 per cent.

Decline in imports of metalliferous ores and metal scrap

The import value of goods excluding ships and oil platforms came to NOK 36.2 billion, a 12.5 per cent decline from March 2007. Metalliferous ores and metal scrap contributed to the decline. This commodity group had an import value of NOK 1.8 billion in March, a decrease of 44.2 per cent from March 2007.

Imports of machinery and transport vehicles also decreased and came to NOK 14.3 billion. This was mainly due to lower imports of electrical machinery and office machines, which came to NOK 1.8 and NOK 1.1 billion respectively. Despite the decrease in March, total imports of machinery and transport vehicles in the first quarter of 2008 increased somewhat compared with the first quarter of 2007. This was partly due to a significant growth in imports of road vehicles and the commodity group other transport equipment, including air planes.

Less exports of non-ferrous metals

The export value of goods excluding ships, oil platforms, crude oil, natural gas and condensates came to NOK 27.2 billion in March 2008, 9.6 per cent less than in March last year. As a total for the first quarter, the export value increased by 5.9 per cent compared with the first quarter last year. This is mainly attributable to a substantial rise in exports of machinery and transport equipment and refined mineral products in January and February.

The decrease in March can be explained by a drop in exports of manufactured goods. The export value of this commodity group ended at NOK 7.4 billion, a 25.6 per cent decrease from March 2007. With an export value of NOK 4.3 billion in March, compared with NOK 6.5 billion in March last year, lower exports of non-ferrous metals in particular contributed to this development. Total exports of non-ferrous metals fell by 21.9 per cent in the first quarter compared with the first quarter of 2007.

The export value of fish ended at NOK 9 billion in the first quarter of 2008. This was a decrease of NOK 456 million compared with the corresponding period last year.

Trade with Germany

Germany is one of Norway’s most important trading partners. In the first quarter of 2008, the import value from Germany came to NOK 15.7 billion, excluding ships and oil platforms. This accounted for approximately 13.6 per cent of total Norwegian imports. Cars make up a large share of Norway's imports from Germany.

Norway’s most significant export articles to Germany are natural gas and crude oil. Exports of natural gas to Germany in the first quarter increased by NOK 2.7 billion compared with the corresponding period in 2007 and came to NOK 12.6 billion. This made up 27.3 per cent of Norway’s total exports of natural gas. The export value of crude oil to Germany was NOK 7.8 billion in the first quarter, NOK 215 million less than in 2007.

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