Foreign trade of the Republic of Belarus

Currently, the Republic of Belarus among the CIS countries occupies a leading place in terms of foreign trade. The volume of foreign trade turnover of the republic is constantly increasing (Table 1). The export and import quotas range from 45-55%.

The main export items are tractors, trucks, refrigerators, watches, televisions, bicycles, tires, chemical fibers, potash and nitrogen fertilizers, food products (Table 2).

The import structure is represented by the following items:

mineral products – 27% of all imports; machinery, equipment and vehicles, 24 per cent; chemical industry products, rubber – 13.7%; ferrous and non-ferrous metals, products from them – 11.9%; food products and agricultural raw materials – 11.8%; light industry products and raw materials for its production – 4.5%; wood and pulp and paper products – 3.2%; etc. – 3.9%.

Table 1 Resource requirements by component

Dynamics of foreign trade volume

of the Republic of Belarus for 1995-2003, in millions of dollars.

1995

1996

1997

1998

1999

2000

2001

2002

2003

Volume of foreign trade of the Republic of Belarus

10367

12591

15990

15619

12583

15972

15737

17113

21469

export of goods

4803

5652

7301

7070

5909

7326

7451

8021

9964

import of goods

5564

6939

8689

8549

6674

8646

8286

9092

11505

balance

-761

-1287

-1388

-1479

-765

-1320

-835

-1071

-1541

with CIS countries

6704

8334

11196

10714

7911

10469

10291

10679

13459

export of goods

3027

3764

5379

5160

3622

4399

4494

4384

5453

import of goods

3677

4570

5817

5554

4289

6070

5797

6295

8006

balance

-650

-806

-438

-394

-667

-1671

-1303

-1911

-2553

with countries outside the CIS

3663

4257

4794

4905

4672

5503

5446

6434

8010

export of goods

1776

1888

1922

1910

2287

2927

2957

3637

4511

import of goods

1887

2369

2872

2995

2385

2576

2489

2797

3499

balance

-111

-481

-950

-1085

-98

351

468

840

1012

The inclusion of the republic in the system of the international division of labor is facilitated by a favorable geopolitical position. On its territory there are communications connecting Russia with European countries, Ukraine with the Baltic states, Asian countries with Europe.

The Republic of Belarus has export-import relations with more than 150 countries and exports more than 1000 items of products. The main foreign trade partners of the republic are Russia, Ukraine, Great Britain, Poland, Latvia, Germany, Lithuania, the USA and other countries (Table 3).

Table 2 Resource requirements by component

Export of the main types of goods of the Republic of Belarus

in 2003

Indicators

Altogether

Including to the CIS countries

2003

2003 in % to

2002

2003

2003 in % to

2002

Potash fertilizers, kt

3816,2

114,6

64,8

211,1

Petroleum products, kt

10539,4

106,7

246,4

67,9

Chemical fibers and threads, kt

159,2

97,4

100,8

93,3

Tractors, pieces

23984

121,8

16889

123,4

Truck tractors, pieces

6185

102,8

5611

102,3

Trucks, pieces

11861

111,9

10301

109,9

Metalworking machines, pcs.

4791

84,8

4446

81,9

Tires, thousand pieces

2334,4

169,8

2161,9

171,8

Flax fiber, tons

14239

87,4

7548

218,8

Unprocessed timber, thousand m3

1448,0

110,1

711,3

123,2

Fiberboard, mln. m2

46,8

122,1

26,4

132,2

Refrigerators and freezers, thousand pieces

761,0

109,1

722,3

112,7

TVs, video monitors and video projectors, thousand pieces

544,3

119,7

540,1

118,9

Household watches, thousand pieces.

2421,1

79,5

2041,4

79,1

Motorcycles, pieces

25133

187,7

2377

123,9

Table 3 Resource requirements by component

The main trading partners of the Republic of Belarus

in 2003

Million. USD

As a percentage of total exports (imports)

Export

Russia

4898,7

49,2

Ukraine

343,5

3,4

Latvia

344,2

3,5

Lithuania

265,0

2,7

Poland

434,2

4,4

Germany

421,2

4,2

China

162,3

1,6

Netherlands

413,8

4,2

UNITED STATES

102,3

1,0

United Kingdom

938,3

9,4

Italy

135,2

1,4

Import

Russia

7559,3

65,7

Ukraine

362,1

3,1

Latvia

44,3

0,4

Lithuania

154,2

1,3

Poland

348,5

3,0

Germany

820,3

7,1

China

71,8

0,6

Netherlands

93,4

0,8

UNITED STATES

150,1

1,3

United Kingdom

79,3

0,7

Italy

283,9

2,5

Export development is one of the priorities of Belarus’ foreign economic activity. The conquest of new markets requires great efforts from domestic producers, modern approaches, creating conditions for the delivery of goods to literally every consumer. The achievements of Belarusian enterprises in increasing their export potential are obvious both in the CIS markets and in the markets of foreign countries, which is confirmed by the growth in the value of Belarusian exports.

Security questions for topic No. 2

Define international trade. What are the indicators that characterize international and foreign trade? What is the difference between international and foreign trade? Define the concept of “world price”. What are the features of the world price and what are the features of its establishment in the world markets of raw materials and engineering products. Describe the place in the world trade turnover of developed, developing and transforming countries. What is the difference between estimated and published prices? What are the main types of published prices? What factors influence the growth of international trade in goods? Describe the structure of the global commodity market. Describe the dynamics, structure, geographical priorities in the foreign trade activities of the Republic of Belarus.