Provisional data for international trade issued by the National Statistics Office show that the visible trade gap in September stood at €34.8 million, down by €115.8 million when compared to the corresponding month in 2010. There were increases in imports and exports of €47.6 million and €163.4 million respectively. The increase registered in imports was mainly due to fuels and lubricants, while other increases were registered in semi-manufactured goods, and miscellaneous transactions and commodities. Fuels and lubricants accounted for the main increase in exports when compared to the corresponding month in 2010. Other increases were recorded in chemicals, machinery and transport equipment, and food.

In the first nine months this year, the visible trade gap widened by €192.8 million, to stand at €1,280.7 million. The increase in imports of €412.6 million was due to fuels and lubricants, industrial supplies, capital goods, and consumer goods. The rise in exports of €219.8 million was primarily due to mineral fuels, lubricants and related materials. Other increases were noted in miscellaneous manufactured articles, semi-manufactured goods, machinery and transport equipment, and crude materials. Decreases were recorded in chemicals, food, miscellaneous transactions and commodities, and beverages and tobacco.

The bulk of Malta’s trade flows and consequent trade deficit continued to be directed towards the European Union. Increases were registered in imports from Italy, Spain, France, Germany, and the Netherlands. Exports to the euro area showed a decrease, mainly to France and Belgium, which offset increases to Germany, Italy, Spain and the Netherlands. Other increases were recorded for China, the United Kingdom, Switzerland and India.

The figures include revised data with respect to trade in fuels.

Figures for trade are being revised significantly in this report following a study on the imports and exports of one particular commodity: fuel.

The National Statistics Office has been monitoring closely trade in this commodity with EU countries and non- EU countries.

As a general rule, trade figures with non-EU countries show the trade as declared by importers and exporters, or their agents, in the Customs Electronic System (CES) and for which documentation has been received and processed by the Customs Department during the month. Trade with EU countries is reported via the Intrastat system, as required under VAT legislation. This has been applied in all EU Member States since 1993. In their declarations, traders have a legal responsibility to show the total value of exports to customers in other Member States (dispatches) and the total value of imports of goods from suppliers in other Member States (arrivals). Traders are required to provide a supplementary declaration each month, showing full details of their dispatches and arrivals during the month.

In its efforts to continuously improve the quality of trade figures, the NSO noted that, as months progressed this year, the reported value of monthly oil exports was substantially higher than that for previous years. Upon further investigation, it transpired that the main traders declaring fuel exports this year did not always report their exports electronically for previous years, and therefore data was not comparable over time.

With regards to imports of this commodity, these were not all recorded electronically by traders this year, and were also not fully captured for previous years. Consequently, uncaptured data had to be inserted by NSO in the Intrastat system and in the CES, after receiving paper documents provided by the Customs Department and information obtained directly from the main traders as at the cut-off date. Late declarations on this commodity are still occurring and may result in other future revisions, which at present NSO is not in a position to corroborate.

As a result, imports and exports of fuels are substantially higher than previously reported, and data in this release, though still provisional, supersedes trade data published so far. The revisions also address, in part, asymmetries and imbalances with other EU Member States.

In conclusion, data on this commodity have been the subject of ongoing discussions between the National Statistics Office and the Customs Department, and the situation is still being closely monitored.

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