Kurt Sansone
Electronics slump to blame for 2008 dismal exports
The slump in the electronics sector was the major contributor to a dramatic drop in exports last year, which placed Malta as the worst performer in the EU.
Statistics released this week by Eurostat show that between January and November 2008 the value of exports dropped to €1.7 billion from €2 billion in the same period a year before. The electrical machinery sector, which includes chip maker STMicroelectronics, was responsible for at least two-thirds of the drop in export revenues.
Malta was one of only four countries that registered negative growth in exports last year. Moreover, at minus 14 per cent, the reduction was way above the second worst performer, Ireland, which saw its exports shrink by six per cent.
The figures come as the chipmaker, for years a bastion of Maltese exports, announced it would be shedding up to 450 workers from the Maltese plant this year in line with plans to downsize its worldwide operations.
The Eurostat figures confirm earlier data issued by the National Statistics Office showing how the value of exports for the whole of 2008 dropped by €252.2 million. Some €200 million of these were attributed to the electrical machinery sector.
Even so, electronic exports still managed to top the €1 billion mark in 2008 contributing to almost half of the country's total exports.
The three top export sectors in terms of monetary value in 2008, were pharmaceutical products, printing and electrical machinery.
The pharmaceutical industry contributed €167.8 million to the value of exports, an increase of €16 million over 2007, and the printing industry registered a total of €99.3 million worth of exports, an increase of €6.5 million over the previous year.
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Alfred Farrugia
Feb 19th 2009, 18:46
According to NSO statistics, one of the most significant changes in December 2008, was the drop of 37.2 million euros in imports of electrical machinery, etc. (Chp 85) when compared with the imports of the same month of 2007. This is equivalent to a drop of 47.7 per cent in one month! From 78.0 million euros in December 2007, these imports went down to 40.8 million euros in December 2008.
The decrease in imports in December 2008, amounts to 23.9 per cent of the decrease in imports for the whole of 2008, which in absolute terms amounted to a decrease of 156 million euros (not 200 million euros according to NSO).
The exports of electrical machinery, etc., in December 2008 went done by only 8.6 million euros from the same month last year, equivalent to a drop of just 9.9 per cent.
It is therefore likely that the drop in imports in December will reflect itself in a substantial decrease in exports in January or February of this year as a result of a time lag. So things will probably get worse before they start to get better again.
emmanuel zammit
Feb 19th 2009, 15:41
the St works are still waiting to see how the goverment will help them in this Moments!!
e.cortis
Feb 19th 2009, 10:40
And yet, our smiling finance minister is not worried in the least by the impending run-down of the ST workforce !!. It's not a big deal, he is reported to have said!!. Not a big deal when around 500 jobs will be lost in the process ,further reducing Malta's export potential?. Your claim that only 100 jobs will be lost is only food for fools. Go and tell it to the marines, Mr.Minister, and do not treat us as some gullible nincompoops !. What is a big deal, Mr.Fenech ?.
L..Galea
Feb 19th 2009, 09:10
That's what happens when you are not in control of your currency.
Why is the weakness of the dollar with the euro not mentioned?
This is another negative aspect of eu membership.