China struggles against weak global demand, targets exports to E. Africa

Cargo for export being loaded onto a ship. Latest data by the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics shows that China exported goods worth Ksh95.5 billion ($1.1 billion) to Kenya for the first seven months of this year up Ksh95.1 billion ($1.1 billion) sent to Kenya a similar period last year. Photo/FILE  NATION MEDIA GROUP

By SCOLA KAMAU, Special Correspondent

In Summary

• Latest data by the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics shows that China exported goods worth Ksh95.5 billion ($1.1 billion) to Kenya for the first seven months of this year up Ksh95.1 billion ($1.1 billion) sent to Kenya a similar period last year.

• This lower than expected growth in exports from China helped narrow the gap between China and the United Arabs Emirates (UAE), the second and third largest exporters to Kenya respectively. Earlier this year, China was closing in on India and opening up a lead against UAE as the leading source of imports into Kenya.

China’s exports to Kenya grew only marginally  in the first seven months of 2013 compared to the previous period.

Latest data by the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics shows that China exported goods worth Ksh95.5 billion ($1.1 billion) to Kenya for the first seven months of this year up Ksh95.1 billion ($1.1 billion) sent to Kenya a similar period last year.

This lower than expected growth in exports from China helped narrow the gap between China and the United Arabs Emirates (UAE), the second and third largest exporters to Kenya respectively. Earlier this year, China was closing in on India and opening up a lead against UAE as the leading source of imports into Kenya.

Anxiety rises

Meanwhile, faltering global demand is den

China’s exports globally fell 0.3 per cent year-on-year to $185.64 billion last month, data released by the Customs Administration on October 12 showed. Imports, however, increased 7.4 per cent to $170.44 billion.

China’s economy continued to struggle against headwinds, with the National Bureau of Statistics reporting last week that GDP grew by 7.8 per cent between July and September, up from 7.5 per cent in the second quarter of this year. It was 7.7 per cent in the first three months of 2012.

Experts said China will increasingly seek exports market in emerging economies in Africa and Middle East to reverse this trend.

Infrastructure development in East Africa has seen trade tilt in favour of China. In neighbouring Tanzania, China registered increased exports in 2012, thanks to the construction of the 542 km long gas pipeline connecting the south of the country to the commercial hub of Dar es Salaam.

During the year, China exported goods worth $1.1 billion to Tanzania, up from $986 million in 2011. Tanzania’s exports to China dwindled from $632 million to $534.5 million. Tanzania exports cotton yarn, garlic, vegetables, marble, gold compounds, copper ore (concentrates), pyrethrum flower (powder), quartz and coffee to China.

Uganda’s imports from China rose to $41 million per month between January and July 2013, rising  11 per cent during the same period.

Uganda’s imports from Kenya grossed $336 million in the first seven months of 2013 while Egypt sent exports worth $25.5 million to Uganda, making Kenya Uganda’s biggest source of imports within the Comesa bloc.

Imports from India stood at $746 million, compared with $288 million worth of imports from China. Imports from the UAE to Uganda stood at $196.8 million.

Though China has been the more aggressive hunter of trade opportunities in the country’s infrastructure and natural resources sectors, on an annual basis, India remains Kenya’s largest source of imports.

During the first seven months of 2013, the UAE’s exports to Kenya rose slightly to Ksh85.5 billion ($982 million) from Ksh83.2 billion ($967 million) in the seven months to December 2012.