- Gold exports remained the top export in June 2024, but fell to 30.5% from 42.8
- Nickel mattes contribution improved from 12.6% to 18.5%
- The trade deficit widened by 39.6% in June 2024
Harare- Zimbabwe's gold exports for June 2024 remained the top export, but fell to 30.5% according to data released by the country's statistics agency, ZIMSTAT. This is down from a higher of 42.8% in May, a drop of 12.3%.
Gold has been the leading export for a while, except for April when it fell to 20.8% from 23.6% in March. Gold producers continue to be affected by a challenging operating environment that is impacting production efficiency.
Key issues include high operating costs driven by electricity prices, a 25% export surrender requirement, and foreign currency shortages.
Exporters are required to surrender 25% of their foreign currency earnings in exchange for the local currency. However, the local currency is overvalued in the formal market but rapidly losing value on the parallel market, which is determined by market forces.
When local producers sell their products, they quote the parallel market rate, which is higher than the rate paid to them by the government. This means miners are losing a significant amount of money due to currency devaluation.
In the June trade mix, nickel mattes contribution improved from 12.6% to 18.5%, and tobacco, partly or wholly stemmed, came in at 8.6%, up from 4% in May, ranking it as the sixth top export.
Tobacco, once a leading export, has seen its contribution decline due to recurring drought and side-marketing of the crop, as producers are dissatisfied with the prices offered in the formal markets.
The top ten exported products in June 2024 were semi-manufactured gold (30.5%), nickel mattes (18.5%), and tobacco, partly or wholly stemmed/stripped (8.6%), which together accounted for 57.6% of the total export value of $524.7 million.
Conversely, the leading import categories were mineral fuels (25.7%), mineral oils and products (11.6%), machinery and mechanical appliances (10.0%), and cereals and vehicles (6.8%), making up 54.1% of the total import value of $743.6 million.
As a result, the value of exports decreased from $583 million in May to $524.7 million in June.
However, the growth in imports, from $739.8 million to $743.6 million, led to a 39.6% increase in the trade deficit.
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