The news is not so encouraging for exports in February of this year. The total value of Belize's domestic exports went down by $3 million dollars compared to the February 2017 total. Statistician Tifanny Vasquez told us why:
Tiffany Vasquez, Statistician 2 - SIB
"This overall decline was predominantly the result of decreased exports for 3 of Belize's major commodities sugar, banana and marine products. Nevertheless, the first two months of the year saw notable export gains from citrus products and crude petroleum. Exports of sugar fell by 7.5 million to 6.1 million. This was due entirely to the timing of shipment of bulk sugar. While in January - February 2017 period included a bulk shipment of significant value. The first shipment of bulk sugar for the year 2018 of an even greater value is scheduled for March. For January - February 2018, banana exports fell considerably by 31% of 4.7 million to 10.3 million. As a record rainfalls at the commencement of the year greatly affected that commodity."
As she noted, the downturn in sugar should is due to the timing of bulk shipments and it should balance out at year's end.
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