The Exporters Corporation of El Salvador (Coexport) reiterated its projection that exports will be recovered for Salvadoran entrepreneurs at the end of 2024.
The president of the trade union, Silvia Cuéllar, recalled that exports of goods until May have reported a fall from last year, especially due to a lower demand for textile products.
“The exports of goods were reduced and I think at the end of the year I hope we can compose ourselves because other sectors are growing,” Cuéllar said.
Exports reported an annual fall of 5.3 percent between January and May 2024, when $2,699.1 million was sent, according to the Central Reserve Bank (BCR).
Coexport noted that in 2022 there was an overdemand of goods that led to a drop in shipments during 2023, the trend continues in 2024, but expect market appetite to be reactivated by the end of the year.
In June, the president of the BCR, Douglas Rodriguez, predicted that in thesecond half of 2024external demand is recovered, which would slow the fall of the manufacturing industry after accumulating eight quarters in negative, mainly due to a lower dynamism of textiles and clothing.
Entrepreneurs expect the textile sector to recover and boost the rest of Salvador’s exports.
The union highlighted the role that service exports have over El Salvador, an area that grows mainly in the tourism, travel and logistics sectors. According to the BCR, services are added, exports have grown by 17 percent this year, mainly due to the demand for tourist packages.
Treaties
Coexport also expects good news on free trade agreements (FTAs).
Cuéllar indicated that the sector lists as a fact – the agreement that can be signed with China and, although it is not signed, he recalled that a process was announced to consolidate this FTA.
The union said that meetings and investigations around an FTA with China continue, and that the need to focus efforts on specific provinces has been discovered.
The spokeswoman for the Corporation maintains that the sugar and coffee sectors are among the main niches that can be used with this type of commercial relationship.
This article has been translated after first appearing in Diario El Mundo