Statistics from the Commonwealth Ports Authority provided through the Department of Commerce showed that from March to April this year, the total volume for imports was 89.21 thousand tons while last year’s it was 99.47 thousand tons.
Petrolium, oil and lubricants remained the top imports, posting 41.28 thousand tons and comprising about 53 percent of the total imports for the period.
The category labeled “others,” which included food, construction materials and beverages, totaled 21.56 thousand tons imports.
Food items were the island’s third top import — 11.06 thousand tons, representing 12 percent of the total imports.
Cement placed fourth with 5.86 thousand tons, followed by beverages which totaled 5.45 thousand tons.
The CNMI imported 3.93 thousand tons of construction materials for the second quarter. Garments posted only .07 thousand tons.
Imports for the first six months of 2009 totaled 168.52 thousand tons for all eight categories, indicating a 12 percent drop compared to the 192.93 thousand tons imports for the first six months of 2008.
Following the shutdown of garment factories on island, the CNMI reported zero exports for the second quarter of 2009.
From January to March, reports based on garment certification fee collections indicated a $3.14 million export value.
Garment exports had declined in the last five years until it posted zero for the second quarter this year.
The island’s garment export value was $650.8 million in 2005 and $486.5 million in 2006. The figure dipped to $307.57 million in 2007, $98.22 million and $3.14 million in 2009.
The island’s economic indicators for the second quarter also showed a dip in figures for business gross revenue and government expenditures compared to the second quarter of 2008.
Business gross revenue reported from April to June this year totaled $395.75 million, indicating a 6.7 percent decrease from last year’s second quarter business gross revenue of $423.96 million.
Government expenditures also went down by 17.6 percent from $46.44 million in the second quarter of 2008 to $39.27 million for the same period this year.
