Estonia's trade in goods grew in August, but imports grew faster than exports. ERR News reports, citing figures Statistics Estonia published on Monday, that exports rose 3 percent on year and imports 10 percent. At current prices, exports totalled about EUR 1.5 billion and imports exceeded EUR 1.8 billion, which widened the trade deficit to EUR 360 million.
Most of the difference comes from one group of goods. Imports of mineral products rose 30 percent year over year, and within that group imports of automotive fuel rose 67 percent. "This was mainly influenced by the rising prices of petroleum on the global market,"
said Jane Leppmets, a foreign trade statistics analyst at the agency.
On the export side, electrical equipment made up 15 percent of the goods sold abroad, and agricultural and food products 11 percent.
The neighbouring countries remained the main trade partners. Finland, the largest export market, took 17 percent of Estonia's exports, Latvia 13 percent and Lithuania 10 percent. Shipments to Latvia grew the most, by 19 percent; the reason was larger sales of mineral products, among them electricity and natural gas.
On the import side the largest increase in euros came from Lithuania, EUR 50 million or 28 percent more than a year earlier, again because of mineral products such as automotive fuel. Lithuania and Finland each supplied 12 percent of what Estonia imported, and Latvia 11 percent.
Source: ERR News, . The text above is our own summary; the words in quotation marks are the source's.
What this means for an Estonian entrepreneur
For an Estonian company that trades in goods, the figures say two things. The nearest markets carry the largest share of trade: Finland, Latvia and Lithuania lead both in exports and in imports, so a business plan built on the neighbours follows where goods already move. And the cost side moved faster than sales in August, largely through fuel, so a company with transport or energy in its costs should check its own prices against the same change.
A company that starts to move goods across the customs border of the European Union needs an EORI number, and we apply for it on the company's behalf. EORI number for an Estonian company