Malaga businesses export 3.4% more than last year, despite Donald Trump's US tariffs

Companies in Malaga exported goods and services worth over 2.588 billion euros between January and September of this year. This represents a 3.4% increase compared to the same period last year, according to the latest monthly foreign trade report, published on Thursday by Spain's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Enterprise. This figure contrasts with that of Andalucía as a whole, where exports fell by 0.4% year-on-year to over 30.166 billion euros. The regional result was dragged down by the decline in Seville, which sold 10% less to other countries this year, and Huelva, which saw a 6.3% drop in exports this year compared to last. However, the region as a whole, excluding energy goods, also achieved record figures. Malaga's numbers are also better than those for Spain as a whole, where total declared trade is 288.34 billion euros, representing a growth of just 0.5%.

The figures for the first nine months of the year for Malaga suggest that the province could indeed close another year with record exports. The Costa del Sol province has now achieved record highs for exports over six consecutive years. In 2019, the province sold goods abroad worth more than 2.26 billion euros. For 2020, it exceeded 2.3 billion, then, in 2021, it came close to 2.5 billion euros. The three billion-euro record was reached in 2022 and, a year later, it stood at nearly 3.222 billion euros. By 2024, exports had reached just over 3.272 billion euros.

Other provinces in Andalucía, such as Almeria, Jaen, Cordoba and Granada, are also currently clocking up record export figures.

This means that Malaga, alongside the other areas in similar circumstances, is managing to circumvent the impact of US tariffs. Starting in early April, the US began applying a 10% tariff on Spanish imports, although it was not until the end of July that negotiations with the Trump administration culminated in the EU's acceptance of a 15% tariff on all products.

For Andalucía, the United States remains its fifth largest export market worldwide and its top non-European market, although sales from companies in the region to that country fell by 19.8% year-on-year, to 1.99 billion euros. Andalucía's leading trading partner is Germany, with 3.42 billion euros in sales, a figure similar to last year's.

The declines in sales by Andalusian companies to the United States and other destinations, such as the United Kingdom and France, are offset by the growth in sales to China, which rose by 16.9% to more than 1.1 billion euros. Sales to Portugal also increased by 7.6% to 2.88 billion euros, making it the second most important destination for exports from Andalucía.

Returning to Malaga, the leading export product category is food, beverages and tobacco, totalling nearly 1.22 billion euros. They account for nearly half of all exports from companies operating in the province. Although they fell by 6.3%, this was primarily due to the drop in the price of olive oil. To compensate for this, capital goods came into play, with exports rising by 13.8% year-on-year to 337 million euros, representing 13% of Malaga's total foreign trade.

In Andalucía, food, beverages and tobacco, with close to two billion euros in exports in the first nine months of this year, account for almost 40% of exports and are 1.2% higher than the figures for the same time last year. Meanwhile, sales of energy products fell by 20.6% year-on-year, to below 4.1 billion euros. Sales of capital goods across Andalucía also declined at a rate of 8.7% to 4.05 billion euros.

Olive oil is Andalucía's top-selling product worldwide, with 2.9 billion euros in export sales, 9.6% of the total (within the fats and oils category, which reaches 3.56 billions). Although the value of its export turnover has fallen by 18% year-on-year, due to lower sales prices due to high output from the last harvest, the quantity exported has grown significantly, up by 46% on January to September 2024, reaching 677,309 tonnes. This total reinforces the region's global leadership over its national and international competitors.

Andalucía has a positive trade balance, which means that it sells more than it buys. This is the case in a handful of provinces: Almeria, Cordoba, Jaén and Seville. The rest buy more than they sell. Malaga is in this position: its trade deficit is 382.2 million euros, compared with a deficit of 6.6 million euros a year ago.