Sales of goods by the Mozambican economy to the rest of the world in 2024 earned the country 8.2 billion dollars (corresponding to 37.2% of GDP), which means a reduction of 1% when compared to the previous year.

The data is contained in the Annual Balance of Payments Report (BoP), released last Thursday (05) by the Bank of Mozambique (BdM).

According to the report to which MZNews has had access, the reduction in export revenues is explained by the fall in sales of traditional economy products by 5%, against a backdrop in which Major Project (GP) exports recorded a slight increase of 0.5%.

"The reduction in exports from the traditional economy of around 96 million dollars was essentially due to the reduction in sales of rubies, worth 153 million dollars, as a result of the combined effect of the reduction in the quality of rubies, with an impact on the auction price, and the post-election tension, which affected production," the document reads.

In addition, the report also states that cotton has had a major impact on the drop in export revenues for Mozambique. According to the BoM, cotton earned the country 14 million dollars, which means a reduction of over 100% when compared to 2023.

"This performance was the result of the fall of around 9% in the price of cotton fiber on the international market, among other factors."

As a result, revenue from tobacco exports and vegetable exports grew by 40% and 11% respectively.

"The increase in tobacco revenues was justified by the 63% increase in sales volume, in a context of price stability, totaling 217 million dollars. As for vegetables, the increase in sales of these products by 11 % to 167 million dollars was influenced by the return to normality of the production process and the disposal of these crops, after being affected by the adverse weather conditions that hit the country in 2023," the bulletin explains.

The BoM report also points out that revenues from cashew nuts and sugar also stood out in the period under review. "Cashew nut exports grew by 72% to 98 million dollars, while sugar exports reached 36 million dollars, which is equivalent to an increase of 50%," says the BoP, stressing that "this behavior is due to the recovery of production after the adverse climatic effects that occurred in 2023."

In the case of Major Projects, the document explains that the increase of 30 million dollars to 6.2 billion was influenced by the increase in revenues from gas by 241 million and electricity by 31 million dollars.

"The growth in natural gas revenues is associated with the increase in gas exports from Area 4 of the Rovuma Basin, in a context in which the average price on the international market fell by 15%. As for electricity, the increase continues to be sustained by the upward revision of the export price applied to the main customers by the main company exporting this product," he said.

Overall, the BdM considers that the fall in prices on the international market and the reduction in the volume exported for some products in the extractive industry were the main reasons for the negative trend in revenues from the main products of the Major Projects in 2024, highlighting "mineral coal, which brought in 2 billion dollars compared to 2.2 billion in 2023". Heavy sands is one of the products that also deserves to be highlighted, with revenues of 467.7 million dollars, compared to 514.6 million dollars the previous year.

India, China and South Africa were the main destinations for Mozambican products during the period in question.

Photo DR