Oman’s non-oil exports soar by 31% to OMR2.4b

Muscat: Oman’s non-oil exports surged by 31.4 per cent to OMR2,364.7 million for the first nine months of 2017, from OMR1,799.6 million for the same January-September period of the previous year.
A major recovery in energy prices indirectly helped the country to strengthen its non-oil export revenue as well. Since prices of several petrochemical products are positively correlated to global prices of energy, Oman could gain immensely with a rise in oil prices.
A phenomenal growth in exports of mineral products, chemical products, plastics and rubber and electric machinery aided the recovery in non-oil exports, shows the latest monthly statistics released by the National Centre for Statistics and Information (NCSI).
Among the non-oil product categories, exports of mineral products shot up year-on-year by 51.5 per cent to OMR640 million, while exports of chemical products was up by 41.9 per cent to OMR610.10 million during January-September period of 2017, over the same period of last year.
Further, export revenue from rubber and plastics and basic metals jumped year-on-year by 43.5 per cent and 35.8 per cent at OMR149.4 million and OMR472.9 million, respectively.
However, exports of live animals and its products and electrical machinery witnessed a fall during January-September period of last year.
As part of the country’s diversification programme, Oman has been taking several major steps to strengthen its export base of non-oil products.
Apart from petrochemicals, the Sultanate’s focused non-oil export products include processed aluminium, fertilisers, fish, minerals, metals and metal products, dates, chemicals, plastic products, detergents, mattresses and pharmaceuticals.
The country’s export promotion agency, Ithraa not only conducts market surveys in potential export markets, but also organises trade exhibitions to promote Omani products.
Re-exports also showed a 8 per cent fall at OMR1,418.4 million from OMR1,542.3 million during the period under review.
The country’s total exports grew by 21.8 per cent growth at OMR9,143.2 million during January-September period of 2017 from OMR7,504.8 million for the same period of the previous year, mainly on account of a recovery in crude oil prices in the international market.
Export revenue from oil and gas exports rose by 28.8 per cent to OMR5,360 million for the first nine months of 2017, from OMR4,162.9 million in the same period of 2016.
The average price of Oman Crude during January-December period of last year surged by 27.8 per cent to $51.3 per barrel, from $40.1 a barrel for the same period of last year. This is against the government’s assumed price of $45 per barrel for estimating budget revenue for last year.