During the last year, sales abroad totaled $672 million, resulting in a rise of just 2% over 2017, mainly explained by banana and wood sales.
The most recent figures from the General Comptroller of the Republic, detail that between 2017 and 2018 exports rose from $660 million to $672 million, an increase that is explained in part by the behavior of sales of bananas, wood and scrap steel, copper and aluminum.
In the third quarter of 2018, Central American exports totaled $23,702 million, reporting an increase of less than 1% compared to the same period in 2017, because of the lower dynamism of sales from El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua.
According to the Central American Trade Monitor for the Third Quarter 2018, prepared by the Secretariat of Central American Economic Integration (SIECA), imports of goods in the region totaled $54,665 million from July to September last year, recording a 6.5% increase over the same period in 2017.
Last year, Panama reported purchases abroad for $13.233 million, recording a 4% increase over 2017, a rise explained by purchases of consumer goods.
The most recent report of the General Comptroller of the Republic details that between 2017 and 2018 purchases abroad increased by $509 million, going from $12.724 million to $13.233 million.
For the years concerned, imports of intermediate goods also reported an increase, in this case it was only 1.4%, going from $3.211 million to $3.255 million in 2018.
In 2018, sales abroad totaled $11 billion, recording a minimum 0.3% increase compared to 2017, a performance attributed to international market factors.
After registering a 5% increase between 2016 and 2017, in 2018 exports did not report significant year-on-year increases, because international prices of some agricultural products are not going through their best.
Guatemalan authorities announced that negotiations with the South American country are practically finished, so that the entry into force of the agreement would soon be finalized.
Because of a series of disputes generated by the imposition of tariffs on Guatemalan sugar, the entry into force of the trade agreement, which had been signed by both countries in December 2011, was postponed.
The year-on-year fall of 3.5% reported in exports up to January 2019, results from the contraction of coffee, sugar, peanut and fish sales.
Statistics from the Center for Export Procedures (Cetrex) indicate that between January 2018 and the same month in 2019, the country's foreign sales decreased by $8.5 million, going from $239.5 million to $231 million.
In 2018, foreign sales totaled $5.904 million, 3% more than in 2017, a rise that was mainly explained by exports from the manufacturing sector.
The manufacturing industry, which includes maquila goods, reached exports of 5.727.4 million at the end of 2018, with a 97% share of total exports and a 2.8% growth. Of 141 economic branches that reported exports, 63 of them totaled $4.388.1 million and were those that had positive growth during 2018, contributing $337.2 million more, reported the Central Reserve Bank (BCR).
In 2018, trade between the two countries totaled $968 million, 6% more than in 2017.
Figures from the Secretariat of Central American Economic Integration (Sieca), specify that last year 82% of trade between the two countries was for sales from Guatemala to Honduras, and the remaining 18% from Honduras to Guatemala.
Because of the performance of the manufacturing sector, last year the country reported $11.312 million in foreign sales, 6% more than in 2017.
The latest report from Costa Rica's Foreign Trade Promoter (Procomer), details that last year exports of precision and medical equipment represented 29% of total sales and recorded an 18% increase compared to what was reported in 2017.
Because of the decrease in purchases of capital goods, between January and November 2018 the country registered imports of $4.468 million, 14% less than in the same period of 2017.
The report of the Central Bank of Nicaragua states that "... The trade deficit of goods was 2,113.1 million dollars, for the January-November 2018 period, being this lower by 714.7 million dollars to the observed in the same period of 2017 (-25.3%).
Between January and November 2018, the trade balance recorded a deficit of $5.540 million, 18% more than the $4.683 million recorded in the same period of 2017.
The Central Bank of Honduras reported that "... At the end of November 2018, the trade balance recorded a deficit of US$5,540.4 million, higher by US$857.5 million than that recorded in the same period of the previous year.
From January to November 2018, Panama reported purchases abroad for $12.1 billion, recording a 5% increase over the same period in 2017, a rise explained by imports of consumer goods.
The most recent report of the General Comptroller of the Republic details that between the first nine eleven months of 2017 and the same period of 2018, purchases abroad increased from $11.558 million to $12.101 million.
Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras have yet to finalize their Customs Union, since this week a new round of negotiations began in which they will follow up on the project to implement the advance declaration.
Although in December 2018 it was reported that the El Poy integrated border post in Chalatenango, the first to have the necessary infrastructure to operate within the framework of the customs integration of the Northern Triangle, began operating in El Salvador, the unification process is currently under negotiation among the countries.
Because of the behavior of exports made to the United Kingdom, Germany and Italy, between 2017 and 2018 the sales of the Central American country to the member states of the European Union fell from $307 million to $280 million.
According to figures from the Centro de Trámites de las Exportaciones (Cetrex) last year, exports from the country to the United Kingdom reported a 11% decrease over 2017.
Because of the manufacturing industry's sales behavior, from January to November Salvadoran exports totaled $5.487 million, 3% more than in the same period in 2017.
Sales to the rest of the world of manufacturing industry, including maquila goods, reached US$5.319 million in November 2018, representing a 3% growth of the sector, informed the Central Reserve Bank.