August 17, 2023.- According to foreign trade data for the months of January-June, published today by the Ministry of Industry, Tourism and Trade, exports from Castilla y León reached € 8,530.7 million, mainly driven by the automotive sector, non-chemical semi-invoices, food, beverages and tobacco and chemical products. The main negative contributions came from the sectors of capital goods, other goods, raw materials and durable consumer goods. Imports totaled € 7,904.4 million, resulting in a positive balance of € 626.3 million; the trade balance of Castilla y León closed again in positive terms and recorded a coverage rate of 107.9%.
Provinces
By province, during the period January-June 2023, the highest value of exports was recorded in Valladolid (2,993.9 mill €), followed by Burgos (1,885.5 mill €) and Palencia (1,278.8 mill €), followed by León (880.3 mill €), Salamanca (560.2 mill €), Segovia (352.5 mill €), Soria (305.9 mill €), Zamora (174.5 mill €) and Ávila (99.1 mill €).
In relative terms, the most significant increases have been achieved in the provinces of Palencia (66.8%) and Ávila (31.1%), although the results in Segovia (17.1%), Valladolid (16.8%), León (12.3%), Zamora (7.1%), Soria (6.9%), Burgos (5.5%) must also be highlighted. On the contrary, it has suffered a decline in its Salamanca export figures (-7.5%).
Geographical distribution
The January-June data confirm that Europe remains the main market for Castilla y León (80.8% of the total), sales to this area have grown by 20.1% compared to the previous year. Exports to the EU (69.6% of the total) advanced by 16.5% compared to the same period last year. France, Portugal, Italy and Germany are listed as the most important destinations. In the case of sales to the euro zone (63.1% of the total), they grew by 16%, and those destined for the rest of the European Union (6.4% of the total), increased by 20.8%.
In parallel, sales to the rest of Europe show an increase of 48.8% compared to the same period of the previous year, representing 11.2% of foreign sales of Castilla y León. The United Kingdom continues to be the main customer in the area, with 4.6% of the total, and an increase of 28.8%, while sales to Turkey, which ranks second with 3.4% of the total, have increased by 102.5% compared to the previous year.
Exports from Castile and Leon to countries outside Europe increased by 34.8% year-on-year in this period, accounting for 19.2% of the total, highlighting the growth in sales to Oceania (35%), Asia excluding the Middle East (9.7%), North America (7.9%) and the Middle East (6.8%), compared to decreases in Latin America (-8.8%) and Africa (-7.9%).
America (8.5% of the total) has ranked second as an export destination. It suffered a decrease of 1.3% compared to the same period of the previous year, as a result of the decrease in the Latin American area of 8.8%. An increase is observed in the northern area 7.9%. Noteworthy are exports to the US, which represent 3.6% of the total, as well as to Brazil (1.3% of the total) and Mexico (0.9%).
Asia remains in third place, with 7.5% of the total and a 9% increase over the same period in 2022, with the main customers being China (1.4% of the total), South Korea (1.4%) and Japan (0.7%).
The main African trading partner remains Morocco (1% of the total) and sales to this country have decreased by 11.2% compared to the same period last year.
In Oceania stands out the increase in sales to Australia 32.5% compared to last year, accounting for 0.7% of the total.
Sectoral distribution
The automotive sector is back in first place (31.9% of the total), with a high growth of 42.1% compared to the previous year; followed by non-chemical semi-invoices (19.6% of the total) with growth (25.7%) mainly due to the sale of other semi-invoices, paper and iron and steel.
Thirdly, Food, Beverages and Tobacco has been located, which reaches 18.5% of the total and a growth of 14.4%. Exports of Meat Products, Other Foods and Dairy Products and Eggs predominated, followed by Capital Goods (12.2%), which decreased by 13.4%, and Chemicals (10.9%), which increased by 10.2%.
For its part, exports corresponding to Consumer Manufactures (4.1% of the total) have increased 16.7% compared to the same period of the previous year.