Russian trade surplus widens 9.5% to $150.3 bln in Jan-August - customs
MOSCOW. Oct 7 (Interfax) - Russia's trade surplus widened 9.5% to $150.3 billion in January-August, the Federal Customs Service (FCS) said in a statement.
"The trade surplus amounted to $150.3 billion, $13.1 billion more than in January-August 2013. The surplus for trade with countries outside the CIS was $127.8 billion ($11.6 billion more) and with the CIS countries - $22.5 billion ($1.6 billion more)," the FCS said.
Trade turnover declined 1.7% to $535.4 billion. Turnover totaled $468.6 billion with countries outside the CIS and $66.8 billion with the CIS.
Russian exports totaled $342.9 billion in the 8M, up 0.6% from a year earlier. Exports to the CIS accounted for 13% of the total and exports elsewhere - 87%.
Fuel and energy accounted for 75.1% of Russian exports, compared with 74.8% in the first eight months of 2013.
Imports totaled $192.5 billion, down 5.5%. The non-CIS accounted for 88.5% of imports, while the CIS accounted for 11.5%. Machinery and equipment made up 50.7% of non-CIS imports. The cost volume of such products fell 4.3% year-on-year. This includes 2.1% for electrical equipment, 14.1% for above-ground transport, excluding railroad transport, and 5.7% for optical tools and apparatuses. The physical volume of car imports fell 16.6%, while truck imports were down 19.5%.
The EU accounted for 49.2% of trade turnover in the first eight months (compared with 50% in the same period last year), the CIS for 12.5% (13.3), the Customs Union for 6.6% (7%), EurAsEC countries for 6.9% (7.4%) and APEC countries for 26.3% (24.5%).
China was Russia's biggest trading partner outside the CIS, accounting for $59.1 billion in trade, 103.4% of 8M 2013, Netherlands - $52 billion (102.8%), Germany - $46.7 billion (97.9%), Italy - $34.3 billion (97.5%), Turkey - $21.1 billion (101.2%), Japan - $20.8 billion (98.1%), the U.S. - $20.5 billion (117.2%), South Korea - $18.5 billion (116.3%), Poland - $16.5 billion (93.2%) and the UK - $14.1 billion (92.2%).
