Romania’s exports dropped in March due to trade restrictions

Over 50% of the exporters polled by the Romanian statistics office INS estimate that their exports dropped in March 2020: 32% of them estimate a decrease of up to 25%, 12% - between 25% and 50%, and 7% estimate a drop in exports by over 50%.

The main causes for these reductions were the reduction of production capacity (16.6%), transportation problems (22.4%), temporary legal export bans (16.5%), lack of import raw materials (14.1%), and cancellation of contracts (9.1%), Hotnews.ro reported.

Notably, fewer than one in ten exporters mentioned cancellation of contracts among the cause while other trade barriers accounted for the bulk of the decrease.

There are also exporters (10%) who have estimated that their exports increased in March 2020, compared to March 2019.

As regards the importers, about 53% of them estimate their imports decreased in year-on-year terms: 35% of them estimate a decrease of up to 25%, 11% - between 25% and 50%, and 6% estimates a contraction of imports by over 50%. The main causes invoked for these reductions were the reduction of production capacity (20.8%), problems related to transport (29.0%), temporary legal prohibitions on imports (20.4%), and contract cancellation (8.4%).

A small proportion of importers responding to the survey (15%) estimated increases in imports in March 2020.

The exporters and importers polled by INS accounted for some 60% of the exports, respectively imports, in March 2019.

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