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37982
Trade surplus increased from November
statistikk
2010-01-15T10:00:00.000Z
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
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External trade in goods, December 2009

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Trade surplus increased from November

The trade figures for December show an increase in the trade surplus for the fourth consecutive month. In December, exports came to NOK 63.6 billion, while imports reached NOK 32.5 billion. The trade surplus in December was NOK 31.1 billion, up by 6.9 per cent from last month. Compared to December 2008, however, the trade surplus declined 9.1 per cent.

Figures for 2009 are available here

A decline in import value of NOK 3.8 billion is helping to strengthen the trade balance compared to November. The decline from December 2008 was mainly caused by reduced natural gas prices, which reached a historical high entering 2009. The exported value including crude oil, natural gas and condensates fell by NOK 9.3 billion compared to December last year, while exports excluding these commodities only had a decrease of NOK 1 billion in the same period.

Increased exports of natural gas

The exported value of natural gas rose by NOK 1.4 billion from November 2009. This was due to an increase in exports of natural gas in gaseous state at 806 million cubic metres from November. Since September we have seen a steady increase in the export of natural gas in gaseous state. Compared with figures from December 2008, however, there has been a significant decrease export value of NOK 12.3 billion. This reflects the historically high values of exports of natural gas in the same period last year.

Small changes in crude oil exports

In December, the export value of crude oil came to NOK 23.7 billion. This indicates a marginal decline in export value. The average price fell by NOK 5 compared to the November price, and reached NOK 432 per barrel in December. The export value of crude oil, however, shows an increase of a whole 27.5 per cent from last December. The increase must be seen in conjunction with the low oil price of December 2008. The price per barrel has increased by NOK 130 since last December.

External trade in goods, excl. ships and oil platforms. NOK million
 
 January-DecemberChange in per centDecemberChange in per cent
 2008200920082009
 
1 Imports 484 310 419 957-13.338 62332 484-15.9
2 Exports 946 836 745 288-21.372 83663 583-12.7
Of which      
Crude oil 359 369 246 561-31.418 56523 67727.5
Natural gas 218 085 187 092-14.227 44914 735-46.3
Condensates10 8376 486-40.1 6539-98.6
3 Exports excl. crude oil, natural gas and condensates 358 545 305 149-14.926 16925 163-3.8
4 Trade balance (2-1) 462 527 325 331-29.734 21331 099-9.1
5 Trade balance excl. oil, natural gas and condensates (3-1)-125 764-114 808.-12 454-7 322.
 

More exports of machinery and fish

The export of goods in December, excluding ships, oil platforms, crude oil, condensates and natural gas, reached NOK 25.2 billion, compared to NOK 26.2 billion in December 2008, thus showing a moderate decrease of NOK 1 billion compared with December last year.

For machinery and transport equipment, the export fell by NOK 136 million compared to December 2008, ending at NOK 6.4 billion. Here, exports of machinery specialised for particular industries pulled in opposite directions, with an increased value in December this year.

In December, the exported value of fish came to NOK 4.3 billion, up NOK 692 million compared with figures from December 2008. The exported value of fish was at a high level in the last three months of 2009, with monthly values well above NOK 4 billion each month. 

The export value for chemical products, however, pulls in a negative direction. The export value for this commodity group dropped by NOK 530 million from 2008 and ended at NOK 3.1 billion in December this year. The export of manufactured fertilisers declined NOK 449 alone and is thereby a major contributor to the decline in export values from this particular commodity group.

Decline in imports, but rising imports of cars

In December, the imported value of goods, excluding ships and oil platforms, came to NOK 32.5 billion. Corresponding figures for 2008 ended at NOK 38.6 billion.

There was a general decline in most major groups. Imports of machinery and transport equipment showed the largest change, down NOK 2.1 billion from December 2008, ending at NOK 12.9 billion this December. However, within this group, road vehicles increased NOK 562 million.

Imports of manufactured goods reached NOK 4.8 billion, reduced by NOK 576 million in December compared to December in 2008. Within this group, iron and steel pulled the import value down, while an increase in import value of non-ferrous metals dampened the decline in the commodity group.

In December, the group of miscellaneous manufactured articles came to NOK 5.1 billion; a NOK 755 million decline from the same month in 2008.

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