New challenges for Georgian exports

Imports increase daily in the Georgian trade turnover. The world economic crisis has decreased Georgia’s export potential even more.

From January-October Georgia’s trade turnover was USD 6.5 billion. Exports make up only USD 1.3 billion of this amount. The negative trade balance has therefore reached more than USD 4 billion.

Georgia exports ferroalloys which are first in the list of exported items. But the world crisis has affected the production facility for this as well, as Zestaphoni factory now works at only half of its capacity. The next most prominent export item is black scrap metal. The crisis has decreased demand for this product and cut its price in half. The third most popular Georgian export is copper materials. Unfortunately the world price on these has also fallen 50%, so dramatically for Georgia that the industry has practically stopped production.

The agriculture situation is particularly dramatic. Since losing the Russian market Georgian wines and citrus fruit have been exported to the Ukraine but the world crisis has decreased the consumption of these products as well.