The Argentine Foreign Ministry announced that, in the first seven months of the year, Argentine exports amounted to USD 42.6 billion, reaching the highest value in eight years and increasing by 31.2% year-on-year, as a result of higher prices (24.3%) and, to a lesser extent, quantities (5.6%). The trade balance of the first seven months reflected a surplus for Argentina of USD 8.3 billion.
Therefore, as part of the intense work carried out by the Foreign Ministry headed by Felipe Solá through the Secretariat for International Economic Relations headed by Jorge Neme, July exports amounted to USD 7.2 billion, the highest figure since June 2013. As a result, exports grew by 47.1% year-on-year, mainly due to a 33.3% rise in prices, while quantities increased by 9.3%.
In July, export values increased in all major sectors, and the ones that stand out are Processed Industrial Products (PIP), which increased by 45.2% in terms of quantities with prices up by 21.7%, and Processed Agricultural Products (PAP), as a result of a 34.8% rise in prices, while quantities decreased by 4.8%. PAP exports represent a historical record, both for July and for the values accumulated in the first seven months of the year. PIP July exports grew by 78.7% compared to 2020.
Within that context, the Argentine Foreign Ministry supported exporters trough trade and investment promotion actions coordinated by the Public-Private Council, the institutional space for dialogue with companies and business associations. It was launched in July 2020 and gathers representatives from 288 chambers and 76 Argentine productive facilities and more than 18,000 companies with one common goal: increasing and diversifying Argentine exports, in terms of both markets and products, by designing and implementing a strategy to promote our country in the international trade, with long-term integration beyond current limitations imposed by the pandemic.
This work is done together with Argentine embassies and trade promotion centres around the world, and also through open dialogue with provinces, as their working groups define the Argentine exportable offer for each exporting sector.
The 2021 Export Promotion Plan was launched according to the markets prioritized, and it provides for 657 trade promotion initiatives abroad. Divided by type of initiative, they comprise 89 technological offer workshops, 295 trade missions, 140 fairs, 40 business rounds, and 93 positioning initiatives. These initiatives will cover the whole Argentine productive sector: PAP (28%), PIP (39%), Knowledge-Based Services (14%), Cultural and Creative Industries (9%), and Tourism and Sports (10%). Trade promotion is supplemented by an investment attraction policy.
