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Malawi’s EU exports plunge

Malawian exports to the EU falling
Malawian exports to the EU falling

Malawi’s exports to the European Union (EU) plunged by 10 percent last year compared to 2012, with the country’s top five exports, tobacco, tea, sugar, coffee and nuts all falling.

Available data provided by the Trade Law Centre (Tralac) indicate that in 2013, Malawi’s top 20 exports to the lucrative EU market raked in a total of $294.11 million down from $327.83 million in 2012.

Specifically, according to the available data, tobacco exports fell by eight percent, sugar by 20 percent and tea by two percent. Coffee and nuts exports also fell by about nine and 43 percent respectively between 2012 and 2013.

Recently, tobacco exports have generally been hit by the anti-smoking lobby with the EU implementing the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) and the government seriously considering ratifying the treaty.

Malawi’s sugar market into the EU is also under threat due to reforms in the market with local producers shifting into the regional markets.

Tea, the third largest export to the EU, has also been experiencing low prices with the beverage’s traditional markets, the United Kingdom (UK).

On the flipside, Malawi’s imports from the 28-states member block rose by about 30 percent with the top five imports including medicaments, intra communication, pharmaceuticals, blood, and second hand clothes.

Malawi is however, yet to sign the EU Economic Partnership Agreements (EPA) which analysts fear may make the 28-member states block export more into African countries including Malawi.

However, the government has been arguing that Malawi’s trade is pivoting towards the regional members, the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (Comesa) and Southern Africa Development Community (Sadc).

Earlier the Ministry of Trade argued that Malawi’s products face a number of problems in the EU markets including strict standards and high transportation costs, making access into the regional markets easier.

Although exports to the lucrative EU market have declined, Malawi total outbound goods and services to the world increased by about 10 percent between 2012 and 2013, according to statistics provided by the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

The IMF data also indicates that Malawi’s imports from the rest of the world marginally rose by less than one percent in the same period.

However, a synopsis on the Africa-EU trade relationship by Tralac shows that in 2013 the EU’s main African trading partners were Algeria, Nigeria, South Africa, Libya, and Morocco.

Collectively, Africa’s major exports to the EU according to Tralac include minerals, food, beverages, and tobacco while the continents imports from Europe include machinery, mineral products, transport equipment, chemical product and base metals.

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