Peru exports seen at $40 billion despite global economic concerns, says minister

Peru’s Foreign Trade and Tourism Ministry is looking at mechanisms to ensure that the country’s exports continue to grow and reach $40 billion this year to offset a new global economic crisis, state news agency Andina reported.

“We are preparing ourselves for a crisis,” Foreign Trade and Tourism minister Jose Luis Silva said. “Until now exports have been growing and it hasn’t been necessary to implement measures.”

Silva said that non-traditional exports are expected to rise to $8 billion, which would be a 20 percent increase from 2010. By 2016, non-traditional exports are seen jumping to $23 billion.

Traditional exports, which include mainly natural resources such as minerals, would make up the remainder of Peru’s shipments.

Peru’s exports climbed 31 percent in 2010 to $35.4 billion, after recovering from lower demand during the global financial crisis in 2009. About 60 percent of Peru’s exports are from the mining sector, which means that metal prices play a key role in export results.

For mining exports, a global crisis would cause a decline in the price of base metals as a result of lower demand from the world’s major consumers. Peru is a major producer of copper, lead and zinc.

Meanwhile, precious metals would likely see a continued boost in their prices as investors flock to gold as a safe haven from uncertainty in global markets and currencies. Peru is the world’s biggest silver producer and the sixth largest for gold.

Silva said both the Central Bank and the Finance Ministry have measures that they can implement in the event of a new crisis, caused by economic woes in the United States and Europe.

Governments in Latin America, including Peru’s, have also announced recently that they would look to increase intra-regional trade to cushion lower demand from Europe and the U.S. They are also eyeing Asia as a key trade partner.