Egypt’s exports are expected to exceed $31 billion during 2021, after recording $29.087 billion during the first 11 months of the year with an annual increase of 27 percent, or $6.2 billion, according to the Ministry of Trade and Industry.
Sources attributed to CNN, the American news network, the increase in Egyptian exports to the dependence of a large number of markets on Egyptian products to replace the countries whose factories stopped as a result of the emerging coronavirus pandemic, in addition to the steps to stimulate the Egyptian government to export, most notably the Export Burdens Restitution Program.
By recording $31 billion commodity exports during 2021, this will mark the highest value ever in the history of Egyptian merchandise exports, exceeding the highest number achieved in 2019 which amounted to $25.6 billion in 2019, according to CNN.
The Ministry of Trade and Industry believes that this increase in the exports prove the ability of the export sectors to deal with the global crisis imposed by the outbreak of the new Coronavirus since the beginning of last year, despite the challenges witnessed by the global economy, which in turn affect the Egyptian economy, including high inflation rates and freight prices.
Khaled Abu El-Makarem, head of the Export Council for Chemical Industries, attributed the growth in the volume of Egyptian commodity exports during 2021 as a result of the dependence of a large number of markets on Egyptian products to replace the countries that stopped their factories as a result of the emerging Coronavirus pandemic, including factories in China and a number of European countries that stopped during the pandemic. This gave the Egyptian factories the opportunity to replace them, especially in nearby markets.
The volume of Egyptian chemical industry exports increased by 40% during 2021 to exceed $6 billion, and entered new markets for the first time, according to Abu El-Makarem.
Egypt’s exports of chemical and fertilizer industries rose to $5.4 billion in the first 10 months of 2021, with a growth rate of 42%. The sector’s exports accounted for 20% of Egypt’s total merchandise exports, and the European Union accounted for the largest share with 29% of the total Chemical exports, followed by Asian and Arab countries with 21% each, according to an official statement by the Export Council for Chemical Industries and Fertilizers.
Abu el-Makarem attributed the reason for the growth of chemical exports to benefiting from the free trade agreements signed between Egypt, whether with African countries – which achieved high growth rates in importing Egyptian products – or the Mercosur countries, and Egypt exported to the latter huge quantities of fertilizers.
