Saudi nonoil exports increase by 25%

Saudi Arabia's nonoil exports in December 2011 rose by 25 percent to SR15.55 billion compared to SR12.43 billion in December 2010, a report issued by the General Statistics Department said Sunday. During the same period the volume of exports increased 3 percent from 4,057,000 to 4,180,000 tons. Plastic products valued at SR5.24 billion topped the list of exports from the Kingdom in December 2011 (accounting for 34 percent of the total exports), followed by petrochemicals (SR5.07 billion) and re-exports (SR2.16 billion), food products (SR1.04 billion) and ordinary minerals (SR661 million). China was the top importer of Saudi products during the reporting month as the country imported goods worth SR1.89 billion (12 percent of the total), followed by the United Arab Emirates (SR1.62 billion), Singapore (SR1.51 billion), India (SR672 million) and Egypt (SR592 million). Non-Arab and non-Islamic Asian countries received 32 percent of Saudi exports during the reporting period (valued at SR5.07 billion), followed by GCC countries (SR3.15 billion), Arab countries (SR2.75 billion), European countries (SR1.82 billion) and non-Arab Islamic countries (SR1.42 billion). The report also pointed out the Kingdom’s imports during the month rose by 4 percent to SR36.6 billion compared to the same period in 2010, when the amount was SR35.09 billion. Equipment, machinery and electric utensils valued at SR10.18 billion topped the list of Saudi imports, or 28 percent of total imports. China maintained its position as the largest exporter to the Kingdom, with its exports valued at SR5.15 billion or 14 percent of the total, followed by the United States (SR5.03 billion), Germany (SR2.75 billion), Japan (SR2.52 billion) and South Korea (SR1.98 billion).