Peruvian exports to China have climbed 31 percent to $3.99 billion in the 10 months since a bilateral free trade agreement came into effect, according to foreign trade association ComexPeru.
Traditional exports represent 95 percent of Peru’s total exports to the Asian giant. They increased 31 percent since March, with agricultural exports seeing a a 62 percent jump, according to ComexPeru figures cited by state news agency Andina.
One of the main factors to influence the hike in the agricultural exports is the shipment of Peruvian coffee to China, which had not been done since 2005. Chinese consumption of coffee has reportedly doubled since 2002, according to the London-based International Coffee Organization.
Peru’s main export to China continued to be its natural resources, with mineral exports accounting for 82 percent of the shipments followed by fishing with 17 percent, while agriculture had less than 1 percent.
Peru’s mineral exports regularly account for about 60 percent of the country’s total shipments.
Canada’s Scotiabank is estimating that Peruvian exports this year will total $40 billion and imports will be $33.7 billion.
The bank expects Peru’s economy to expand by 7 percent in 2011, compared to projections of 8.7 percent last year and 7.2 percent for 2012.
