Countries of the World/COUNTRYS.BIN/dp/0092/00927.txt

Text File | 1991-06-24 | 9KB | 201 lines

$Unique_ID{COW00927}
$Pretitle{226}
$Title{Colombia
Colombia's Top Ten Exports}
$Subtitle{}
$Author{Embassy of Colombia, Washington DC}
$Affiliation{Embassy of Colombia, Washington DC}
$Subject{per
exports
cent
million
colombia
tons
export
foreign
trade
production}
$Date{1990}
$Log{Table 1.*0092701.tab
}
Country:     Colombia
Book:        Colombia Today
Author:      Embassy of Colombia, Washington DC
Affiliation: Embassy of Colombia, Washington DC
Date:        1990

Colombia's Top Ten Exports

     Colombia's export sector performance has been one of the nation's
economic success stories in recent years. Despite fluctuations in the
international prices of commodities such as coffee, coal, nickel, oil and
sugar, the export sector as a whole has continued to perform well due to a
healthy distribution of earnings among the top ten exports and a number of
emerging growth categories.

     In the first half of 1990, exports of minerals consolidated themselves
as the principal source of foreign exchange for the country, accounting for
close to 40 per cent of total earnings. The industrial sector has also
performed with dynamism, increasing 30 per cent in export value and
representing close to 24 per cent of total export earnings. Clothing sales,
one of the fastest areas of growth, were up by 72 per cent.

     Agricultural exports accounted for 19 per cent of total exports in the
first semester, with sugar up by 59 per cent and further expansion in bananas
and flowers. The top ten exports are complemented by new growth categories
such as leather products, up by 34 per cent; seafood, up by 23.5 per cent; and
tropical fruits other than bananas, up by 90 per cent. Trade reforms and
programs proposed by the new administration are targeted at attaining even
higher growth rates in the 1990s.

Leading Exports from the Agricultural, Mining and Industrial Sectors

1 Coffee

     Colombia is the number one producer of mild coffee worldwide. The
commodity has played a key role in the development and evolution of the
Colombian economy, as a source of employment, foreign exchange and an engine
of development.

     Today coffee maintains its leading role in the economy, contributing 10
per cent of the agricultural value added and about 10 per cent of the national
GDP. It occupies about 10 per cent of the total employed population.

     In 1989 coffee production reached 13 million (60 kilos) bags, of which
10.8 million were exported. Foreign exchange earnings totaled $1,531 million,
or about 23 per cent of total exports. The largest markets for Colombian
coffee are found in Germany and the United States. In the coming years,
Colombia aims to sell a larger share of its coffee in processed form.

2 Petroleum & Fuel Oil

     Colombia has been registering an oil export surplus since 1976, when it
regained self-sufficiency in crude petroleum production due to a string of
discoveries in the Eastern Plains. In 1989 exports totaled $1,438 million, for
the first time nearly equal to the foreign exchange earnings of coffee.
Production is absorbed mainly by Andean Group nations, Puerto Rico and the
United States.

     Recoverable crude petroleum reserves have been conservatively estimated
at some 2.2 billion barrels, dispersed among seven oil basins throughout the
country. About half of the oil reserves lie in the Eastern Plains, and about
one-quarter in the Upper Magdalena Valley oil basin.

3 Coal

     The advances made in the coal industry in Colombia since 1986 have been
remarkable. Production rose from 10.7 million tons in 1986 to 19.8 million
tons in 1989, and is expected to top 20 million tons in 1990. Exports of high
quality steam coal climbed from 5.8 million tons to 13 million tons and a
value of $650 million in the same period.

     Now the third largest export, coal has accounted for an increasing share
of foreign exchange earnings while generating jobs, domestic inputs and
infrastructure improvements. The principal consumers are Western European
countries, which absorb about 82 per cent of exports, with the United States
taking about 8 per cent.

4 Clothing & Textiles

     Clothing and textile exports have predominated in the international
market in the past few years, thanks to the modernization of facilities and
an active marketing effort mounted by the industry. Exports totaled $507
million in 1989, making this the fourth largest export category of Colombia.

     The textile and garment sector is comprised of a number of companies
which show similar marketing characteristics. The United States is their
principal market and cotton goods represent the major share of their exports.
Children's wear is one of the fastest growing export categories.

5 Bananas

     Bananas are Colombia's principal fruit export, although other tropical
fruits are also beginning to capture foreign markets. Total exports reached
$330 million in 1989, a 10 per cent increase over the previous year. The
country ranks third in world production of bananas.

     Output of bananas originates largely in the Caribbean coastal region of
Uraba, near the port of Turbo, where production has risen steadily as yields
improve. The industry employs about 14,000 persons. Principal consumers are
the United States and Germany.

6 Fresh Cut Flowers

     Over the past twenty years Colombia has become the second world flower
exporter after Holland and the first supplier of the U.S. market, with a share
of close to 50 per cent. The soil and climate of the Bogota plateau region
are particularly well-suited to flower cultivation, and the region is ideally
situated for rapid air shipment to Miami and distribution throughout the
United States.

     In the period 1979-1989, Colombian flower exports rose from 34,000 tons
per year to 92,000 tons per year, and the value from $75 million to $219
million per year, representing a yearly average growth of about 20 per cent.

7 Ferronickel

     Since 1982, Colombia has produced ferronickel for export based on the
processing of domestic lateritic ores. Cerromatoso, the nickel enterprise,
has emerged as one of the major nickel producers in Latin America, today
covering about 12 per cent of the world nickel demand.

     The nickel ore deposit yields close to 800,000 metric tons per year, and
plant capacity totals 51,500 metric tons per year with a nickel content of 42
million pounds. The production is shipped to European, North American and
Asian markets through the Caribbean port of Cartagena. Earnings in 1989
totaled $190 million.

8 Sugar

     While sugar exports are subject to a quota system which is fixed
annually, the product has been one of Colombia's more dynamic minor exports,
and with the recuperation of world prices, earned over $113 million in 1989.
Colombia today produces some 1.6 million tons of sugar cane, of which exports
total around 400,000 tons.

     Some 345,940 acres are under cultivation, mostly in the Cauca Valley
which has comparative advantages in soil and climate. Continuous technical
improvements have made Colombian productivity among the highest in the world.

9 Emeralds

     Colombian emeralds are renowned as the best in the world due to their
deep green color as well as their size and purity. Japan is the single largest
market, purchasing more than 90 per cent of the $103 million exported in 1989.

     At present Colombia accounts for about 95 per cent of the world emerald
production. Three major mining sites - Muzo, Chivor and Coscuez - are located
around Bogota, the nation's capital.

10 Printing & Publishing

     During the second half of the 1980s, printed matter became one of
Colombia's main industrial exports. The marketing of this product, which has
traditionally been oriented toward Latin America, is now also being directed
toward North America, which absorbed about 47.5 per cent of total exports in
1989.

     The total value of exports in this category has risen from $39.6 million
in 1980 to $102.6 million in 1989, and in volume terms