HK February exports value down 10.4%; imports down 10.1%

    The values of Hong Kong's total exports and imports of goods both recorded year-on-year decreases in February, at 10.4% and 10.1% respectively, according to the Census and Statistics Department.
  As the trade flows in January and February of each year tend to show considerable volatilities due to difference in timing of the Lunar New Year holidays, it is useful to analyse the trade figures for these two months taken together.
   Taking January and February as a whole to neutralise the distortion caused by the difference in timing of the Lunar New Year holidays, the value of total exports of goods (comprising re-exports and domestic exports) dropped 6.6% over the same period in 2015. Within this total, the value of re-exports decreased 6.5%, while the value of domestic exports decreased by 17.2%. Concurrently, the value of imports of goods decreased by 9.5%. A visible trade deficit of HK$50.5 billion, equivalent to 9.1% of the value of imports of goods, was recorded in the first two months of 2016.
  In February, the value of total exports of goods fell 10.4% over a year earlier to HK$204.5 billion, after a year-on-year decrease of 3.8% in January. Within this total, the value of re-exports decreased by 10.5% to HK$201.8 billion in February 2016, while the value of domestic exports decreased by 8.4% to HK$2.7 billion. Concurrently, the value of imports of goods dropped 10.1% over a year earlier to HK$237.6 billion in February, after a year-on-year decrease of 9% in January. A visible trade deficit of HK$33.1 billion, equivalent to 13.9% of the value of imports of goods, was recorded in February.
  A Government spokesman noted that merchandise exports stayed sluggish in February. Taking the first two months of 2016 together to remove the distortion caused by the difference in timing of the Chinese New Year holidays, the value of merchandise exports saw a larger year-on-year decline than in the fourth quarter of 2015, reflecting the increased headwinds from the weak global demand conditions, which also put a significant drag on the export performance of many other Asian economies. The spokesman commented further that looking ahead, Hong Kong's external trading environment will still be subject to considerable downside risks in the near term, including those arising from a slow-growing global economy, monetary policy normalisation in the US, diverging monetary policies among major central banks and heightened geopolitical tensions in different parts of the world.