In January, Bavarian exports reached the pre-corona level of January 2020. “We are back to the level before the pandemic, but there has been no dynamic growth so far,” explains Bertram Brossardt, Managing Director of the Bavarian Business Association (VBW), on the foreign trade figures published by the State Statistical Office on Tuesday. According to this, exports and imports have each increased by 13 percent compared to January 2021.
“Lack of materials and delivery bottlenecks have weighed heavily on the Bavarian export industry in the past year.” January shows a first positive development, said Brossardt. But because of the war in Ukraine, he expects a significant decline in foreign trade relations with Ukraine and Russia. The “drastic effects of disrupted or broken supply chains” are already noticeable. Rising energy prices and the threat of supply bottlenecks also posed enormous burdens.
According to the statistics office, exports to the USA in particular increased sharply by 28.2 percent compared to January 2021, as did the UK with a plus of 7.8 percent. Plastics (plus 33.4 percent) and cars (plus 19.3 percent) were in particularly high demand. On the other hand, exports to China fell surprisingly significantly by 5.2 percent, but imports increased by 27.4 percent. “On the one hand it is gratifying that the export business with our Western partners is picking up momentum again, on the other hand we are increasingly concerned about the declining exports to China. In total, we import almost twice as much as we export,” said Brossardt.
Bavaria’s overall foreign trade balance last year was negative for the third time in a row. “We have to strengthen our international competitiveness again overall, the high cost level is a problem here in particular,” said Brossardt.