The value of the top 10 non-traditional commodities exported during the second quarter of 2021 amounted to $316.53 million, compared to $273.44 million recorded for the same period in 2020, data from the Bank of Ghana has revealed.

Among the 10 top non-traditional items exported in the review period were cashew nuts, prepared or preserved tuna, palm oil and its fractions, aluminium, among others.

Cashew nuts accounted for $116.17 million, representing 36.70% of the total exported non-traditional export products.

Palm oil and its fractions and prepared or preserved tuna recorded $46.18 million and $25.65 million respectively. This represented 14.59% and 8.10% respectively of the non-traditional exports market.

Also, the total non-oil merchandised imports (including electricity imports) for quarter two 2021 was provisionally estimated at $2.751 billion, down by 7.8% from the value of U$2.981 billion recorded in the second quarter of 2020.

The drop in non-oil imports was due to decreases in the imports of consumption and intermediate goods. The value of capital goods imported during the period was $633.82 million, up by 2.5% from $618.57 million recorded for the same period in 2020. This was as a result of an 11.1% increase in industrial transport goods.

Consumption goods imports decreased by 16.1% to $518.87 million, from $618.06 million worth of consumption goods imported during the same period in 2020. This was explained by decreases in all sub-categories except non-industrial transport and semi-durable consumer goods.

The value of intermediate goods imported also decreased by 12.5% to $1.253 billion, largely on account of a fall in the demand for goods in all sub-categories, except primary industrial supplies, which recorded an increase of 36.9 percent.

Top 10 major non-oil imports

The total value of the top 10 non-oil merchandise imports for quarter two 2021 amounted to $848.01 million compared to $868.25 million recorded in the second quarter of 2020. Key items included motor vehicles for the transport of persons and goods, self-propelled bulldozers, rice, sugar, polyethylene, among others.