Commodity terms of trade drops 0.55 basis points in Q4’ 2022

By Business AM

The All commodity Terms of Trade (ToT) declined by 0.55  basis points in the fourth quarter of 2022 (Q4’22), according to a recent report by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

The NBS in its All-Commodity ToT report for Q4’22 NBS noted that the All-Commodity Group Export Index was down 0.15 per cent between October and December 2022.  On the other hand, the all-commodity group import index increased by 0.40 percentage point, when compared to the 0.76 percentage point increase recorded in Q3’22.

ToT represents the ratio between a country’s export prices and its import prices. A decrease in the terms of trade between two periods means that the value of imports is increasing relative to the value of exports.

According to the report, the All-Commodity Terms of Trade for October, November, and December 2022 stood at 101.61 per cent, 101.16 per cent, and 101.05 per cent, respectively.

It also stated that the All-Commodity Group Terms of Trade declined by 0.44 per cent points in November and as well as by 0.11 per cent points in December, resulting in a decline of 0.55 per cent points between October and December.

In contrast, the All-commodity group import index increased by 0.40 per cent points between October and December 2022, while the All-Commodity Group Export Index averagely decreased by 0.15 per cent between October and December 2022.”

The statistics bureau attributed the increase in import index  to the rise in the prices of products of   animal, vegetable fats and oils and other cleavage products, vehicles, aircraft, and parts thereof; vessels, and mineral products.

The decline in the export index was attributed to slower changes in the prices of papermaking material; paper and paperboard, articles, base metals and articles of base metals, and mineral products.