Based on CCIA-BML certified exports

CCIA-BML Exports Report in 2018

CCIA-BML - Center for Economic Research 2-8-2019

Lana El Tabch Center for Economic Research at the CCIA-BML 1

Table of Contents

A. CCIA-BML certified exports in 2018 .......................................................................... 3

B. CCIA-BML certified exports by weight ...................................................................... 5

C. Top export markets of CCIA-BML certified exports ................................................... 6

D. Evolution of Lebanon’s main export markets over the past four years based on

CCIA-BML certified exports ............................................................................................. 7

E. Geographical distribution of CCIA-BML certified exports .......................................... 8

F. Main Lebanese products exported based on CCIA-BML certified exports ................ 9

Lana El Tabch Center for Economic Research at the CCIA-BML 2

The present report illustrates Lebanese exports data compiled solely based on

the certificates of origin issued by the Chamber of Commerce, Industry and

Agriculture of Beirut and Mount Lebanon (CCIA-BML). This data is therefore not

to be confused with the Customs data that tallies Lebanese exports on a national

scale. All the tables and charts of the report hence refer exclusively to the CCIA-

BML certified exports.

Lana El Tabch Center for Economic Research at the CCIA-BML 3

CCIA-BML Exports Report

A. CCIA-BML certified exports in 2018

During 2018 the Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture of Beirut and Mount

Lebanon (CCIA-BML) issued certificates of origin to exported merchandise worth $3.16

billion, a 1.5 percent decrease compared with the value of exports certified during the

previous year.

Exports of Lebanese origin

formed 44.5 per cent of total

exports and reached $1.4

billion in 2018, reflecting

approximately the same

amount as of 2017.

Exports of foreign origin,

which constitute 55.5 per cent

of total certified exports, decreased nearly by 3.3 percent from their last year’s value and

stood at $1.76 billion in 2018.

It is worth mentioning that almost half of total CCIA-BML certified exports are done by

local companies whereas the other half are made by offshore companies. This is

correlated with the fact that nearly half of the exports are of Lebanese origin and the other

half are of foreign origin.

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Value of CCIA-BML certified exports (in million $)

Lana El Tabch Center for Economic Research at the CCIA-BML 4

CCIA-BML certified exports

(in million $) Exports of Lebanese origin Exports of foreign origin Total

2004 492 579 1,071

2005 664 485 1,149

2006 941 460 1,401

2007 1,226 816 2,042

2008 1,631 1,147 2,778

2009 1,109 1,571 2,680

2010 1,342 1,543 2,885

2011 1,584 799 2,383

2012 1,633 1,222 2,855

2013 1,676 1,254 2,930

2014 1,656 1,351 3,007

2015 1,450 1,355 2,805

2016 1,222 1,732 2,954

2017 1,395 1,815 3,210

2018 1,405 1,756 3,162

Share of total exports 44.4% 55.5%

CCIA-BML certified exports by month in 2018

Month Exports of local companies

(in million $) Exports of offshore companies

(in million $) Total

(in million $)

Jan 77.925 210.588 288.513

Feb 178.335 179.361 357.696

Mar 132.013 178.021 310.033

Apr 149.218 152.682 301.900

May 107.460 140.353 247.813

Jun 71.796 145.511 217.306

Jul 86.773 97.253 184.026

Aug 100.996 113.779 214.776

Sept 120.733 121.694 242.427

Oct 106.482 201.465 307.947

Nov 143.013 114.122 257.135

Dec 130.699 101.327 232.026

Total 1,405.441 1,756.157 3,161.598

Share of total exports 44.5% 55.5%

Lana El Tabch Center for Economic Research at the CCIA-BML 5

B. CCIA-BML certified exports by weight

Lebanese exports certified by the CCIA-BML weighed 4,503 thousand tons in 2018 and

the average value per ton reached $ 702; nearly 15 percent higher than its value in 2017.

Over the past 17 years, the average value per ton more than tripled. This is possibly

indicative of a trend toward more sophisticated, high-value industrial production.

Year Value of exports

(in million $) Tons

(in thousand) Average value per ton

(in $)

2002 670 2,657 252

2003 892 3,284 272

2004 1,071 3,148 340

2005 1,149 3,128 367

2006 1,401 3,095 453

2007 2,043 3,599 568

2008 2,788 5,577 500

2009 2,680 5,512 486

2010 2,886 4,244 680

2011 2,383 2,467 966

2012 2,855 3,232 883

2013 2,930 4,004 732

2014 3,007 4,736 635

2015 2,804 3,015 930

2016 2,954 5,156 573

2017 3,210 5,253 611

2018 3,162 4,503 702

Lana El Tabch Center for Economic Research at the CCIA-BML 6

C. Top export markets of CCIA-BML certified exports

Lebanese exports, according to the CCIA-BML exports data, went to nine major markets

of Arab countries in 2018, in addition to Turkey.

Egypt occupied the first place on the list of Lebanon’s top exports markets, according to

the CCIA-BML exports data, total exports to Egypt amounted to nearly $803 million in

2018 and accounted for 30 per cent of total exports. UAE is the second largest export

market of Lebanese merchandise and has imported $381 million worth of Lebanese

products in 2018, according to CCIA-BML certificates of origin, forming 14 per cent of

total exports. Together, Egypt and UAE import over 44 per cent of the Lebanese exported

merchandise as tallied by the Chamber’s certificates of origin.

Main export markets of CCIA-BML certified exports (in 2018):

Lana El Tabch Center for Economic Research at the CCIA-BML 7

D. Evolution of Lebanon’s main export markets over the past four years based

on CCIA-BML certified exports

Over the past four years, exports to Egypt increased tremendously; they were multiplied

by a factor of 8 to reach $812 million by end of 2018, according to data tallied by the

CCIA-BML based on certified exports.

This increase is due to the surge in the Lebanese exports of base metals and products

thereof to Egypt. These products formed 88.4 per cent of Lebanese exports to Egypt in

2017 and 85 per cent in 2018. Lebanon exported to Egypt $740 million worth of base

metals and products thereof in 2017 as compared to only $1.9 million in 2014. Whereas

exports of base metals to Egypt amounted to $689 million in 2018.

Lebanese exports to Iraq were almost cut by half. After being the second most important

export market to Lebanon in 2017, its rank dropped to the fifth top export market in 2018.

UAE’s rank increased from the fifth to the second largest export market of CCIA-BML

certified exports which value increased by 30 percent in 2018, compared to 2017.

Top 10 export markets in 2018 Top 10 export markets in 2017

Country

Exports (in thousand $)

Country Exports

(in thousand $)

1 Egypt 812,296

1 Egypt 836,967

2 UAE 380,557

2 Iraq 485,027

3 Syria 354,869

3 KSA 370,053

4 KSA 338,164 4 Syria 342,361

5 Iraq 259,580 5 UAE 293,114

6 Qatar 257,554 6 Qatar 199,130

7 Kuwait 135,673 7 Kuwait 149,565

8 Jordan 95,589 8 Jordan 112,744

9 Oman 60,741 9 Oman 42,254

10 Turkey 55,419 10 Turkey 41,056

Total 2,750,442

Total 2,872,271

Lana El Tabch Center for Economic Research at the CCIA-BML 8

E. Geographical distribution of CCIA-BML certified exports

Over 90 per cent of total exports certified by the CCIA-BML went to Arab countries during

2018, up from 80 percent in 2012; followed by EU countries and African non-Arab

countries which imported 5.5 percent and 2.1 per cent of total certified exports,

respectively. Certified Lebanese exports to Arab countries stood at nearly $2.8 billion in

2018.

This geographical distribution of imports has been sustained over the past decade due to

the nature of Lebanese products that cater better to the demand of Arab markets and due

to the lack of compliance of Lebanese products to international norms and specifications

which hinders their access to more demanding markets such as the EU countries and the

US.

The top five European countries in terms of their imports of CCIA-BML certified products

are: Turkey, Italy, France, Switzerland and Spain. Turkey imported 31.9 per cent of

products going to the EU, followed by Italy which imported 13.5 per cent of Lebanese

products going to that region. France’s share of certified exports to the EU formed 12.4

percent while the share of Switzerland and Spain was 11.9 percent and 6.2 percent,

respectively. The value of Lebanese CCIA-BML certified exports to Turkey and to France

stood at $55 million and $23 million, respectively, during 2018. It’s worth mentioning that

over 50 percent of certified exports to Turkey are of base metals and articles thereof.

Geographical Distribution of CCIA-BML Certified exports (in 2018)

Arab Countries EU Countries

African (non-Arab countries) Asian (non-Arab countries)

America Austrialia

Other Countries

Lana El Tabch Center for Economic Research at the CCIA-BML 9

Geographical distribution of CCIA-BML certified exports in 2018

Trading blocs Exports of Lebanese origin Exports of foreign origin Total Share

(in million $)

Arab countries 1,166.6 1,681.1 2,847.8 90.1%

EU countries 149.7 24.1 173.8 5.5%

Africa (non-Arab countries) 38.7 28.1 66.7 2.1%

Asia (non-Arab countries) 23.3 18.7 42 1.3%

America 24.3 4.1 28.3 0.9%

Australia 2.6 0.06 2.6 0.1%

Other countries 0.3 0.01 0.3 0.0%

Total 1,405.4 1,756.2 3,161.6

F. Main Lebanese products exported based on CCIA-BML certified exports

Base metals and products thereof rank first in the list of main Lebanese products exported

according to the certificates issued by the CCIA-BML. Lebanon exported $923 million

worth of base metals in 2018. This category forms 29.2 percent of total CCIA-BML

certified Lebanese exports. Base metals are mainly exported to Egypt ($689 million); Iraq

($110 million) and KSA ($29 million).

The second most important Lebanese product exported, based on CCIA-BML certified

exports data, is pearls, precious and semi-precious stones or precious metals that

constitute 14.6 per cent of total certified products exported and amounted to $461 million

in 2018. The largest export markets for this category are: UAE; Qatar; Kuwait and KSA.

These markets imported, respectively: $163 million; $110 million; $68 million and $51

million worth of pearls and precious and semi-precious stones and metals in 2018.

Machinery and electrical equipment were the third largest category of Lebanese exports,

as per data certified by the CCIA-BML, this category forms almost 14.3 per cent of total

certified exports and stood at $452 million in 2018. Main importers of Lebanese machinery

and electrical equipment are UAE, which imported $117 million of this category; Syria

with $85 million worth of imports of machinery and Egypt which imported $41 million.

The fourth largest category of CCIA-BML certified exports is the chemical products or

related industries; which forms 10.9 percent of total Lebanese certified exports. The

Lana El Tabch Center for Economic Research at the CCIA-BML 10

biggest export markets for this category are: KSA; Iraq and Syria which imported

respectively: $54 million; $38 million and $33 million, worth of chemical products in 2018.

Lebanon has exported nearly $343 million of chemical products in 2018 of which nearly

16 per cent went to KSA.

HS Code Product description Exports of

Lebanese origin (in thousand $)

Exports of Foreign origin (in thousand $)

Total (in thousand $)

Share

1 Live animals; animal products 8,065 48,633 56,698 1.8%

2 Vegetable products 54,616 133,506 188,123 6.0%

3 Animal or vegetable fats and oils 10,927 21,011 31,939 1.0%

4 Prepared foodstuffs, beverages, tobacco 145,277 105,060 250,338 7.9%

5 Mineral products 2,221 9,518 11,738 0.4%

6 Chemical products or related industries 218,689 124,461 343,149 10.9%

7 Plastics and manufactured rubber and articles thereof 65,866 35,601 101,467 3.2%

8 Raw hides and skins, leather, fur skins 9,011 1,059 10,070 0.3%

9 Wood and articles of wood, wood charcoal, cork 3,251 11,830 15,081 0.5%

10 Pulp of wood, paper and paperboard 120,833 41,701 162,535 5.1%

11 Textiles and textile articles 19,843 10,198 30,041 1.0%

12 Footwear, umbrellas, artificial flowers 893 1,395 2,288 0.1%

13 Articles of stone, plaster, cement, glass 10,877 12,207 23,084 0.7%

14 Pearls, precious stones and metals 458,030 3,206 461,236 14.6%

15 Base metal and products thereof 72,989 849,635 922,625 29.2%

16 Machinery and electrical equipment 178,711 272,883 451,594 14.3%

17 Vehicles, aircraft, vessels, transport equipment 0 6,774 6,774 0.2%

18 Optical, photographic, medical, musical instruments 1,952 47,629 49,581 1.6%

19 Arms and ammunition, parts and accessories 0 78 78 0.0%

20 Miscellaneous manufactured articles 23,391 19,724 43,114 1.4%

21 Works of art, collectors' pieces and antiques 0 48 48 0.0%

Total 1,405,441 1,756,157 3,161,598 100%

Lana El Tabch Center for Economic Research at the CCIA-BML 11

0 200000 400000 600000 800000 1000000

Works of art, collectors' pieces and antiques

Miscellaneous manufactured articles

Arms and ammunition, parts and accessories

Optical, photographic, medical, musical instruments

Vehicles, aircraft, vessels, transport equipment

Machinery and electrical equipment

Base metal and products thereof

Pearls, precious stones, and metals

Articles of stone, plaster, cement, glass

Footwear, umbrellas, artificial flowers

Textile and textile articles

Pulp of wood, paper and paperboard

Wood and articles of wood, wood charcoal, cork

Raw hides and skins, leather, furskins

Plastics and manufactured rubber and articles thereof

Chemical products or related industries

Mineral products

Prepared foodstuffs, beverages, tobbaco

Animal or vegetables fats and oils

Vegetable products

Live animals; animal products

Main Lebanese products exported in 2018 based on CCIA-BML certified exports

(in thousand $)