AMMAN —
Exports to
Arab and foreign countries increased between January and July this
year because of rehabilitated economic activity following lockdowns under the
COVID-19 pandemic which brought life to a virtual standstill, economists
contended.
اضافة اعلان
The revitalized
activity was coupled with an increased demand for Jordanian fertilizers and
potash in the wake of
Russia’s war on Ukraine, which resulted in significant
global supply disruptions, the economists argued.
“The
circumstances of the pandemic and the Russian-Ukrainian war led to increasing
demand for Jordanian fertilizers, potash and phosphate, which drove our exports
up,” Economist
Wajdi Al-Makhamreh told
Jordan News.
Another
economist, Mazen Irsheid, said the growth in exports “was expected due to the
return of normal economic activity since last September.”
Globe News Wire,
a newswire distribution network, said the fertilizer industry has been on the
rise because of the “growing popularity and demand for fertilizers” in the
agriculture sector along with the “increasing global population leading to
surging demand for food”.
It said the
global fertilizer market is projected to witness a further “robust growth” this
year, owing to the rising demand for food grain production globally.
The World Bank
said fertilizer prices have risen nearly 30 percent since the beginning of
2022. This followed last year’s 80 percent surge.
“Soaring prices
are driven by a confluence of factors, including surging input costs, supply
disruptions caused by sanctions (on Belarus and Russia), and export
restrictions (
China),” a Bank blog said.
“Urea prices
have surpassed their 2008 peaks, while phosphates and potash prices are inching
closer to 2008 levels,” it said. “Concerns around fertilizer affordability and
availability have been amplified by the war in Ukraine.”
Makhamreh said
that the opening of markets with Iraq and Palestine led to an increase in
exports, noting that the Ukrainian crisis had helped to grow Jordanian exports,
especially clothing, mining, and medicine.
The
Amman Chamber of Commerce (ACC) said certificates of origin it issued between January
and July this year for exporting goods to Arab and foreign countries were
valued at JD506 million, compared with JD392 million for the corresponding
period in 2021.
ACC data, however, showed that the number of
certificates of origin issued in the past seven months declined to 18,931, down
from 20,312 recorded in the same period last year.
ACC said exports
targeted several countries, most notably Saudi Arabia with 4,645 certificates
of origin, the UAE with 2,479, Iraq 778, Egypt 518, and India with 99.
But in terms of
the value of exports, Iraq came first with JD121 million worth of imports of
Jordanian products, followed by Egypt with JD73 million, Saudi Arabia JD57
million, the UAE JD45 million, and India JD27 million.
Re-exported
foreign products through Jordan amounted to JD215 million, according to the ACC
data.
ACC Vice
President Nabil Al-Khatib told
Jordan News that exports between January
and May this year reached JD3.075 billion, or 40 percent more than the
corresponding period in 2021, which was estimated at JD2.14 billion.
Al-Khatib
explained that the most prominent exports during the five-month period included
livestock, agricultural produce, phosphates, fertilizers, and potash.
He concurred
with the two economists, Makhamreh and Irsheid, that the global demand for
Jordanian phosphate and fertilizer, and a growing demand for Jordanian
livestock in the wake of the Russian-Ukrainian War “are all reasons for this
growth in exports.”
Irsheid said that the
seven-month growth was partly due to improved relations with neighboring Iraq,
and the recent exchange of visits between Jordanian and Iraqi delegations
seeking closer economic cooperation and increased trade exchange.
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