Non-traditional exports rise in value by $43m; hits $316 million
Monetary value of the country’s top 10 non-traditional exports rose in value by $43 million in the second quarter of 2021 according to data from the Central Bank.
The $43 million increment in value marks a 15 percentage points year-on-year increment when compared to the $273.44 million recorded for the same period in 2020
Total value of exports for the 10 non-traditional exports per the Central Bank’s second quarterly bulletin amounted to $316 million.
Among the ten top non-traditional items exported in the review, period were cashew nuts, prepared or preserved tuna, palm oil and its fractions, aluminium, among others.
Cashew nuts, which topped the list, accounted for US$116.17 million, representing 36.70 percent of the total exported non-traditional export products.
Palm oil and its fractions and prepared or preserved tuna recorded US$46.18 million and $US25.65 million respectively. This represented 14.59 percent and 8.10 percent respectively of the non-traditional exports market.
Read: Republic Bank Ghana doubles profit; strengthens loan asset quality
Aluminium saw a whopping 144 percent increase, moving from US$9.46 million in the second quarter of last year to US$23.14 million for the same period this year.
Meanwhile, the value of merchandise exports for quarter two of this year was provisionally estimated at US$3,641.28 million, indicating an increase of US$125.31 million or 3.6 percent, compared with $3,505.97 million recorded in the same period in 2020.
The rise was attributable to increasing receipts from the exports of cocoa beans, crude oil, timber, as well as other exports (other minerals and non-traditional exports).
On the other hand, the total value of merchandise imports for the period under review amounted to US$3,426.39 million, up by 2.3 percent compared to US$3,349.56 million recorded last year. The rise was driven by increased demand for oil imports.
