ARGENTINA TRADE OVERVIEW Nº 14

(April 2004)

                     

PROVINCIAL EXPORTS IN 2003

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  * In 2003 exports grew in most of Argentina's provinces; only three of them exported less than in 2002: Tucumán, Tierra del Fuego and Corrientes.

 

  * External sales originated mainly in the Pampean Region (70%),  followed by Patagonia (13%).

 

  * External shipments from the provinces of Santa Fe, Buenos Aires, Córdoba and Entre Ríos accounted for approximately 80% of the total growth of exports, as a result of the good trend in the agricultural sector, in particular for soya and its by-products.

 

  * Although on a smaller scale, Neuquén, Santa Cruz and Chubut accounted for 11% of the total exports growth, through fuels and unprocessed fish and seafood.

 

  * The provinces show an heterogeneous degree of export diversification by product, with the highest levels of diversification in Cuyo and the Pampean Region.

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PROVINCIAL EXPORTS 2003

   

         Provincies      USD mill.(*)   % Share   % Annual var.

         ------------------------------------------------------

         Buenos Aires       10.108       34,4%         9%

         Santa Fe            6.278       21,4%        28%

         Córdoba             3.390       11,6%        21%

         Chubut              1.378        4,7%         8%

         Neuquén             1.039        3,5%        20% 

         Santa Cruz            971        3,3%        13%

         Mendoza               929        3,2%         6%

         Entre Ríos            528        1,8%        56%

         Catamarca             522        1,8%        10%

         Salta                 481        1,6%         4%

         Río Negro             352        1,2%        15%

         Tucumán               342        1,2%       -17%

         Misiones              322        1,1%        18%

         San Luis              268        0,9%         4%

         Chaco                 200        0,7%        47%

         Cap. Federal          198        0,7%        11%

         La Pampa              164        0,6%        36%

         La Rioja              153        0,5%        13%

         Sgo. del Estero       143        0,5%       194%

         Tierra del Fuego      139        0,5%       -48%

         San Juan              123        0,4%         3%

         Jujuy                 111        0,4%         5%

         Corrientes             69        0,2%        -7%

         Formosa                19        0,1%         5%

         Indeterminate       1.122        3,8%         1%

             TOTAL          29.349      100,0%        14%

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         (*) Preliminary data

         Source: CEI, based on INDEC

 

 GOOD PERFORMANCE OF PROVINCIAL EXPORTS IN 2003

 

    The good performance of commodity prices, the incipient recovery of world economic activity and the current high rate of exchange (as a result of the end of the Convertibility) led to a significant growth in Argentine exports last year (+14% y-o-y). External sales grew in most of Argentina's provinces, as reflected by the preliminary figures of exports during 2003. The most dynamic districts were: Santiago del Estero (+194% y-o-y), Chaco (+47% y-o-y), Entre Ríos (+56% y-o-y), La Pampa (+36% y-o-y) and Santa Fe (+28% y-o-y). Only three provinces exported less than in 2002: Tucumán, Tierra del Fuego and Corrientes.

 

    From the point of view of geographical distribution, approximately 70% of exports originated in the Pampean Region, mainly in Buenos Aires (34%), Santa Fe (21%) and Córdoba (12%); followed by the Patagonian provinces, which accounted for 13% of total exports, prominent among them Chubut (5%), Neuquén (4%) and Santa Cruz (3%).

 

SHARE IN EXPORT GROWTH

         Province       % Contrib.   % Share   Accum. Share

        ---------------------------------------------------

        Santa Fe           5,3%        37%         37%

        Buenos Aires       3,2%        23%         60%

        Córdoba            2,2%        16%         76%

        Entre Ríos         0,7%         5%         81%

        Neuquén            0,7%         5%         86%

        Santa Cruz         0,4%         3%         89%

        Chubut             0,4%         3%         92%

        Sgo. del Estero    0,4%         3%         94%

        Chaco              0,2%         2%         96%

        Catamarca          0,2%         2%         98%

        Rest               0,3%         2%        100%

            TOTAL         14,0%       100%

        ---------------------------------------------------

         Source: CEI, based on INDEC

 

    Owing to the strong position of the Pampean Region in the structure of external sales, shipments from Santa Fe, Buenos Aires, Córdoba and Entre Ríos contributed approximately with 80% of last year's total growth in exports. This performance was mainly due to the good trend in the agricultural sector generated by the increase in international prices last year, in particular for the soya and its by-products.

 

    In the case of Santa Fe it is worth mentioning the growth of sales of oil seeds, pellets and flours and fats and oils. In Córdoba, in addition to the good performance of the soya sector, there was a significant increase in sales of grains (in particular corn), similarly to Entre Ríos (oil seeds and grains). In Buenos Aires, on the other hand, apart from oil seeds and fats and oils, the growth of exports was generated by sales of meats and their by-products, chemical products, fuels and petroleum gas, the latter two having been stimulated by the rise in fuel prices last year.

 

    On the other hand, the Patagonian provinces of Neuquén, Santa Cruz and Chubut played an important role in the growth of total exports (together accounting for 11%), through the sale of fuels and unprocessed fish and seafood. The contribution of the provinces of Santiago del Estero and Chaco to the growth of total exports was also significant, with a remarkable expansion of external sales of oil seeds; and the province of Catamarca, basically through copper mineral exports. Together, these three districts accounted for a 7% increase in the total external shipments last year.

 

DIVERSIFICATION OF PROVINCIAL EXPORTS

 

    Reflecting the variety of productive structures of the different regions of the country, an heterogeneous diversification level of provincial exports by product can be found (1). The highest concentration levels of external shipments are found in Patagonia, in the Northeast region and in the Northwest region, where a few activities dominate the export structure, a situation that is particularly remarkable in the southern provinces of the country. Thus, exports from Patagonia are mainly concentrated in fuels (61% of the total); and to a lesser extent, unprocessed fish and seafood, metals and its manufactures and fresh fruit.

 

    In the case of the Northeast region, the most important export activities are primary products (42% of the total): oil seeds, grains, tobacco and tea, yerba mate and spices, as well as sales of paper and cardboard and tanning extracts. The case of the Northwest region is similar: basically, it exports primary products (58%): copper, fresh fruit, oil seeds, tobacco and vegetables; as well as fuels and furs and leather.

 

    Among the provinces forming these regions, there are two cases in which external sales concentrate almost solely around one product: in Catamarca, where copper exports account for 90%; and in Formosa, where crude oil concentrates 80% of the external shipments. Other cases of low diversification are: Santiago del Estero (grains and oil seeds), Neuquén (crude oil and gasoline), Tierra del Fuego (crude oil, petroleum gas and machines and equipment), La Rioja (furs and leather, paper and cardboard and vegetable preparations) and Santa Cruz (crude oil, unprocessed fish and seafood and precious stones and metals).

 

    At the opposite end of the spectrum, the regions with higher diversification in their export structure are Cuyo, and especially, the Pampean Region, although there are provinces in the other regions with low concentration levels of export products, such as Salta and Tucumán. The three provinces of the Cuyo Region (Mendoza, San Luis and San Juan) show low concentration levels in their external sales. In these districts, exports are mainly related to primary products: fresh fruit and unprocessed vegetables; to the chains related to those primary products like, vegetable preparations and alcoholic beverages; crude oil and gasoline within fuel sales; and a group of industrial manufactures, such as chemicals, plastics, paper and cardboard and machines and equipment.

 

    Finally, Buenos Aires and Córdoba stand out in the Pampean Region due to they low export concentration level, while Santa Fe and Entre Ríos show intermediate diversification levels. In this region, exports focus on crops and oil seeds within primary products; fat and oil, pellets and flour, meat and its by-products and furs and leather within manufactures of agricultural origin; gasoline and petroleum gas within fuel exports; and a variety of industrial manufactures, such as chemicals, plastics, metals and their manufactures, machines and equipment and vehicles.

 

(1) The Herfindahl index was used to measure the diversification level of exports by product on the second deaggregation level of the classification of external sales by large categories. The index is calculated by adding twice the relative share of products in the exports of each province, and may take values between 0 and 10,000.

 

 

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