Oman’s non-oil exports surge 14% in the first quarter

The country witnessed a marked growth in export revenue from chemicals, plastics, rubber and base metal products, according to the latest monthly statistics released by the NCSI.

MUSCAT: Oman’s non-oil exports surged 14 per cent to OMR751.80 million in the first quarter of 2017, from OMR659.4 million for the same period of last year.

A recovery in commodity prices since the beginning of the year seems to have aided a recovery in export revenue for the first time in almost two years.

The country witnessed a marked growth in export revenue from chemicals, plastics, rubber and base metal products, according to the latest monthly statistics released by the National Centre for Statistics and Information (NCSI).

Among the non-oil product categories, exports of base metals soared 43.9 per cent to OMR162.2 million, while export revenue from chemical products was up 77.3 per cent to OMR218.9 million in the first quarter. Also, revenue from plastics and rubber products rose by 20.5 per cent to OMR46.3 million.

However, live animals and mineral exports declined by 33.9 per cent and 18.5 per cent, respectively, in the first quarter.

The country’s total exports also showed a 10.3 per cent growth to OMR2,852.4 million in the first quarter of 2017 from OMR2,586.4 million for the same period of the previous year, mainly on account of a recovery in crude oil prices in the international market. Export revenue from oil and gas exports rose by 28.4 per cent to OMR1,738.3 million for the first quarter, from OMR1,354.1 million in the same period of last year.

The average price of Oman Crude during the January to May period of this year grew by 51 per cent to $51.6 per barrel, from $34.2 a barrel for the same period of last year. This is against the government’s assumed price of $45 per barrel for estimating budget revenue for this year. Oman produced 146.29 million barrels of crude oil and condensates during the January to May period of 2017, against 151.68 million barrels for the same period of last year, registering a drop of 3.6 per cent. The average daily production also fell by 2.9 per cent to 968,800 barrels for the January to May period of this year, against 997,900 barrels for the same period of 2016.

The Sultanate has been taking several initiatives to raise its non-oil exports, especially to untapped African markets. Ithraa has been conducting a series of Omani product exhibitions, mainly in Gulf Cooperation Countries (GCC) countries, since 2012 to raise non-oil exports from the country and has drawn growing participation with each passing year.

Apart from petrochemicals, the Sultanate’s focused non-oil export products include processed aluminium, fertilisers, fish, minerals, metals and metal products, dates, chemicals, plastic products, detergents, mattresses and pharmaceuticals.