Aluminium wires emerge as the top product exported from Bahrain in Feb 2017

Bahrain's value of exports of commodities produced within the country reached BD177 million (US$469.5 million) in February this year, while import value surged to nearly BD333 million (US$883.2 million), revealed data published by Bahrain’s Information & eGovernment Authority (iGA) in its Foreign Trade Report of February 2017. Aluminium wires emerged as the top product exported with BD26 million ($68.9 million). The Gulf country's last three-year aluminium wire export data shows the volume has logged a steady growth year-over-year.

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According to international trade data, Bahrain exported 165948.28 tonnes of aluminium wires in 2016, up 9.65 per cent from 151333.79 tonnes in 2015. In 2017 (till November), the Middle East country is estimated to ship around 142050.22 tonnes of aluminium wires to the overseas markets. However, given the uptrend that aluminium wire exports are showing already, they are expected to far exceed this figure.

The value of full-year aluminium wire exports by Bahrain totalled US$407.27 million in 2016, up 10.7 per cent from 2015, when the value reached US$367.77 million. In 2017 (till November), total aluminium wire export from Bahrain is estimated to be valued at US$356.49 million. The February export value shown in the report far exceeds the estimate of US$30.77 million.

According to the report, the value of re-exports (all commodities) reached BD47 million ($124.6 million) in February 2017.  

Saudi Arabia ranked first among the countries importing goods from Bahrain, with the value of imports touching BD45 million ($119.3 million). The US ranked second with BD35 million ($92.8 million) and the UAE came in the third spot with BD20 million ($53.05 million).

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Bahrain exported most of its domestically produced aluminium wires to the Middle East countries including the UAE (13970.28 tonnes), Saudi Arabia (70637.17 tonnes), Oman (3195.92 tonnes), and Iraq (4712.14 tonnes) in 2016.

The country’s trade balance, that is, the difference between exports and imports declined with the value of the deficit reaching BD109 million ($289.1 million) in February, the report stated.