WIESBADEN (Dow Jones) — German imports from China rose by 52.8 percent to 16.7 billion euros in April compared to the previous year. The strong growth was due in particular to imports of chemical products worth 4.4 billion euros, as reported by the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis). Imports of chemical products from China increased almost sixfold in April compared to the previous year (469.2 percent).
According to Destatis, raw materials for drug production in China were increasingly purchased in April. Imports of other product groups from China also rose sharply in April: imports of data processing equipment increased by 20.4 percent to 4.4 billion euros and imports of electrical equipment by 27.1 percent to 1.9 billion euros.
German exports to China fell by 1.5 percent to 8.3 billion euros in April. Due to these developments, Germany recorded an import surplus of 8.4 billion euros in foreign trade with China in April.
Exports to Russia continue to decline
Meanwhile, exports to Russia continued to fall in April after already falling almost 60 percent year-on-year in March. Germany exported goods worth 828.2 million euros to Russia in April, 64.1 percent less than in the same month last year. Exports of machines, which fell by 57.7 percent to 226.9 million euros, and exports of chemical products, which fell by 53.1 percent to 114.1 million euros, again recorded large declines.
In April, too, the sharp drop in exports to Russia was offset by a significant increase in imports. German imports from Russia rose by 41.9 percent to 3.7 billion euros. The most important goods imported from Russia were crude oil and natural gas, with a value increase of 37.8 percent to 2.2 billion euros. Other important imported goods were coke oven and mineral products, which increased by 94.3 percent to EUR 0.4 billion, and coal, which grew by 334.7 percent to EUR 0.4 billion.