Hungarian food export decreased

In October 2008, both the export and import volumes decreased by 7 and 6 percent

 In
the first ten months of this year exports increased by 6 percent and
imports were up by 7 percent as compared to the same period of the
previous year.

During this period, trade balance
practically reached an equilibrium, the balance improved by HUF 44
billion (EUR 111 million) as compared to a deficit of HUF 29 billion
(EUR 111 million) in the same period of the previous year.

In the first ten months of this year,
the forint price level of exports remained unchanged while that of imports grew by 1.4 percent.
The terms of trade has deteriorated by 1.5 percent. Within this, in
October, the forint price level of exports was up by 3 percent while
that of imports grew by 6 percent. The forint exchange rate was
revaluated by 2 percent compared to the main currencies as a whole;
against Euro, our currency strengthened by 1 percent, while its
revaluation compared to dollar was 11 percent.

In October 2008, the export and import
volume of machinery and transport equipment fell by nearly 9 and 7 percent, respectively.
In the decline of exports the volume decrease of mobile phone and
motor vehicle engine dispatches as well as the fall of exports in
spare parts of motor vehicles played a significant role. While on the
import side the slump of import volume of passenger cars as well as
that of parts and fittings suitable for TV production was
determinant. During the period of January–October 2008, as a whole
exports rose by 6 percent and imports were up by 8 percent.

For manufactured goods, in the first
ten months of 2008 the volume of exports and imports– despite decreases of 7 and 5 percent in
October – rose by 6 and 4 percent, respectively. In the fall of exports in October the volume decrease
of scientific and controlling instruments and apparatus, plastics in
primary forms as well as iron and steel played a significant role
which could not be counterbalanced by the export growth of medical
and pharmaceutical products and rubber manufactures.

In October 2008, the import volume of
fuels and electric energy fell by 6 percent and that of imports decreased by 3 percent compared
to the same month in 2007. Within this, the volume of natural and
manufactured gas imports increased by 9 percent, while that of
petroleum, petroleum products and related materials was 17 percent
less compared to September 2007. In January–October 2008, the
import volume was up by 9 percent, while that of exports grew by 16
percent.

In the first ten months of 2008, the
export volume of food, beverages and tobacco – parallel to a growth of 13 percent in October –
decreased by 2 percent, while that of imports was up by 5 percent. In
the export increase of October, a volume growth of 50 percent for
cereals and cereal preparations played a significant role, while
during the period as a whole cereal exports were 22 percent less
compared to the same period of the previous year. For January-October
2008 in imports, the volume increase of meat and meat preparations
and cereals and cereal preparations was above the average while the
volume of dairy products and birds’ eggs decreased.

In January–October 2008, the intra-EU
export and import volume – parallel to a fall of 6 and 3 percent in September – increased by 6
and 5 percent, respectively. During the period as a whole, the volume of exports and imports for new
member states continued to expand more dynamically (15 and 9 percent)
than that for the EU-15 (4-4 percent). In conformity with the
tendency of the previous months, the surplus of trade balance
continued to grow, and in January–October 2008 it increased by HUF
179 billion to more than HUF 1,500 billion. In case of new member
states, our trade balance improved by nearly HUF 200 billion, while
regarding the EU-15 countries the surplus was HUF 20 billion less
than one year before.

In the first ten months of 2008, in
extra-EU trade the export and import volume – despite decreases of 8 and 11 percent in
October – increased by 5 and 10 percent, respectively. During the
period as a whole, trade deficit amounted to about HUF 1,500 billion,
which is HUF 136 billion more than in the same period of the previous
year. Regarding Asian countries our balance slightly improved; our
deficit

decreased by HUF 43 billion to HUF
1,692 billion, while our trade balance with extra-EU European countries showed a deficit of about HUF
70 billion as opposed to a surplus of HUF 76 billion in the corresponding period of the previous
year.