Romania’s trade deficit rises to 19.19 billion euros January through October 2008

Romania’s FOB-CIF trade deficit advanced by RON 70.013 billion (19.196 billion euros) in the first ten months of 2008, exceeding by RON 13.009 billion (1.937 billion euros) the deficit one year before, according to preliminary estimates of the National Statistics Institute (INS).

FOB export January-through-October 2008 went higher than RON 105.89 billion (29.019 billion euros), while CIF imports reached RON 175.907 billion (48.216 billion euros).

Compared with the first ten months of 2007, exports advanced 30.9 percent when stated in RON and 18.6 percent when stated in euros, while imports went up 27.6 percent when stated in RON and 15.5 percent when stated in euros.

Compared with January-October 2007, goods exports in January-October 2008 outpaced goods imports, continuing on a trend that started in December 2007.

Romania’s intra-Community trade January-October 2008 stood at RON 74.466 billion (20.396 billion euros) in terms of deliveries and at RON 120.869 billion (33.098 billion euros) in terms of incoming trade, accounting for 70.3 percent of Romania’s total exports and 68.7 percent of its total imports.

The difference between the dynamics computed in RON values and euro values was generated by a depreciation of the local currency, the leu (RON), January through October 2008, by between 8 and 14.2 percent from the corresponding months of the year before.

Important weights in the structure of exports in the first ten months of 2008 were held by mineral fuels, lubricants and related materials (9.6 percent of exports and 13.2 percent of imports); transport equipment and machinery (35.1 percent of exports and 35.8 percent of imports) and other manufactured products (38.4 percent of exports and 30.9 percent of imports).

October 2008 FOB exports totalled RON 12.052 billion (3.219 billion euros), while CIF imports stood at RON 19.590 billion (5.229 billion euros).

On a monthly basis, October exports advanced 14 percent when stated in RON (9.5 percent when stated in euros) and imports went up 2.4 percent when stated in RON, but declined 1.8 percent when stated in euro.

Compared with October 2007, October 2008 exports were up 26.3 percent when stated in RON (13.3 percent when stated in euro), while October 2008 imports increased by 15.5 percent when stated in RON (3.6 percent when stated in euro).

The October 2008 FOB-CIF trade deficit totaled RON 7.538 billion (2.010 billion euros) up RON 125.8 million on a monthly basis, but down 196.6 million euros year-on-year.

The CIF price (i.e. cost, insurance and freight price) is the price of a good delivered at the frontier of the importing country, including any insurance and freight charges incurred to that point, or the price of a service delivered to a resident, before the payment of any import duties or other taxes on imports or trade and transport margins within the country.

The FOB. price (free on board price) of exports and imports of goods is the market value of the goods at the point of uniform valuation, (the customs frontier of the economy from which they are exported).It is equal to the CIF. price less the costs of transportation and insurance charges, between the customs frontier of the exporting (importing) country and that of the importing (exporting) country.