Uzbekistan increases gold sales

In January-May, Uzbekistan's foreign trade turnover amounted to $25.81 billion. Compared to the same period last year, it increased by 25.4%, the State Statistics Committee says.

Export for five months amounted to $10.51 billion, having increased by 24.1% compared to Jan-May of 2022. Imports showed a slightly more significant increase – by 26.4%, to $15.3 billion. The negative foreign trade balance reached $4.79 billion.

In May, Uzbekistan increased its gold exports to $1.3 billion. The total volume of precious metal supplies abroad amounted to $4.37 billion.

China remains the major trading partner for Uzbekistan with $4.54 billion (almost 17.6% of total trade). Russia retains its place as the main export market for Uzbek goods ($986.3 million) and second — on imports ($2.85 billion).

Export

Excluding gold, the largest share in Uzbekistan's merchandise exports fell on manufactured goods – $1.71 billion. Compared to last year, their supplies fell by 10.1%.

Revenues from the export of textiles and fabrics decreased by almost 16% and amounted to $860.5 million. The export of non-ferrous metals also decreased significantly – by 12.9%, to $579.9 million. At the same time, supplies of iron and steel doubled and reached $94.9 million

Food exports grew by 31.5% to $679.6 million. Most of it was fruits and vegetables ($422.4 million, +27%) as well as grains ($211.6 million, +59.2%).

The third place is occupied by engineering products with $492.5 million (+74.7%). The export of cars ($178.8 million) grew by 60.8%, and electrical equipment ($94.9 million) - by 55.3%. Deliveries of communication and sound recording devices grew 6.5 times to $54.4 million.

Next are consumer goods with $489.6 million (+25.5%). The export of ready-to-wear clothing rose by a quarter to $410.3 million, and footwear to $18 million.

Following with a slight lag is chemical products – $467.4 million (+0%). Revenues from inorganics rose by a third to $203.6 million, but shipments of plastics fell by about 30.9% ($89.9 million) and fertilizers by 32.5% ($95.3 million).

Commodity exports remain relatively low. Thus, the proceeds from the supply of gas ($201.5 million) and raw materials for fertilizers ($11.7 million) dropped by almost half. At the same time, the export of oil and oil products doubled to $91.5 million.

Import

In the structure of imports of goods, as before, engineering products are in the lead with $5.95 billion (+42.9%). Thus, Uzbekistan spent 78.1% more on car imports than last year – $570.8 million. Another $661.8 million was spent on car parts (+21.5%). Also, aircraft purchases more than tripled – $756.3 million.

The second place is occupied by manufactured goods – $2.43 billion. Iron and steel supplies slightly exceeded last year's figure ($1 billion), while imports of rubber products increased by 63%.

Chemical products are in third place with $2.05 billion. Fertilizer imports increased 2.5 times (to $104 million), while supplies of medical and pharmaceutical products decreased slightly ($660.7 million).

Food imports increased by 15.7% and amounted to $1.54 billion. Of these, $573.3 million (+31%) was spent on grain, $254.2 million (+49.4%) on sugar and confectionery, and vegetables and fruit — $157 million.