Romania’s trade deficit (goods) surged by 38% y/y to EUR 2.74 billion in January, as the exports picked up encouragingly by 2.4% y/y, still insufficient to offset the 10.3% y/y advance of imports, according to data published by the statistics office INS.

Romania’s exports rose by 2.4% y/y to EUR 7.25 billion, while the imports advanced faster by 10.3% y/y to EUR 9.99 billion. 

The deficit has particularly widened for the category of food goods (and live animals), goods classified mainly by raw materials (metal, wood, textile), and machinery and transport equipment (cars), where the exports decreased reflecting volatility (grains, live animals) but also deeper causes (steel and automobile industries). At the same time, the imports increased on still robust demand for consumption expected to ease through 2025.

In the food category, exports decreased by 9.0% y/y to EUR 482 million while the imports increased by 3.2% y/y to EUR 934 million – gnarly double the exports. 

The export of raw materials edged down by 1.1% y/y to EUR 1.1 billion, while imports surged by 17.6% y/y to EUR 1.8 billion. Steelmaker Donalam, part of the Italian Beltrame group, recently warned about the massive imports of cheap steel from outside the EU – Turkey, China, Egypt, and the Maghreb countries(+27% y/y in 2024). Major steel company Liberty Galati, part of Liberty Steel, entered a debt restructuring process recently pointing to the imminent effects of the US tariffs.

The export of transport means (cars) decreased by 2.2% y/y to EUR 3.25 billion as the sales in Europe came under pressure while the imports kept rising by 3.4% y/y to EUR 3.38 billion.

In the 12 months to January, Romania’s exports edged down marginally by 0.1% y/y to EUR 92.9 billion, while the imports increased by 4.4% y/y to EUR 127.0 billion. Over roughly the same period, the country’s GDP expressed in euros increased by 9.5% y/y to EUR 355 billion, which puts the trade deficit in 12 months to January (EUR 34.2 billion, +19.2% y/y) at 9.6% of GDP.

iulian@romania-insider.com

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