PDF, GB, 56 p., 1,3 Mo - Femise

Table 3: Exports of goods in 2005 and 2006
2005 2006 2005 2006
Change
(%)
Million US$ Share
Total Exports of goods: 10,646 13,720 28.90
Mineral fuels and oils 5,485 7,643 0.52 0.56 39.30
Iron and steel 554 814 0.05 0.06 46.90
Salt, sulphur, and cement 464 440 0.04 0.03 -5.20
Textiles and clothing 323 270 0.03 0.02 -16.40
Cereals 313 306 0.03 0.02 -2.20
Cotton 294 243 0.03 0.02 -17.30
Plastics and products 280 391 0.03 0.03 39.60
Edible vegetables 210 197 0.02 0.01 -6.20
Articles of iron and steel 152 151 0.01 0.01 -0.70
Aluminium and articles 131 102 0.01 0.01 -22.10
Sub-Total 8,206 10,557 0.77 0.77
Source: www.capmas.gov.eg.
Table 4 then considers the patter of exports for Egypt and several comparator countries
by distinguishing by type of commodity and by the technological structure of trade.
From this we see that Egypt’s export structure remains heavily dominated by resourcebased
and low-tech exports, which account for nearly 90 percent of manufactured
exports in both 1990 and 2004. 2 The share of medium-tech and high-tech exports rose
slightly over the period from 7.3% to 11%. In contrast the share of medium tech and
high tech industries for Morocco rose from 14.2% to 18%, for Tunisia from 17.5% to
25.3%, and for Turkey from 16.6% to 37.4%. There is clearly then the possibility that
Egypt is not managing to diversify into higher value-added activities as some of its’
neighbours and competitors.
Table 4: The technological structure of exports by country
Share in total exports (%)
Country
1990 2004
PR RB LT MT HT PR RB LT MT HT
Egypt 41.1 13.9 37.7 6.1 1.2 24.5 44.4 20.1 10.1 0.9
Jordan 38.7 11.3 15.0 23.4 11.6 17.8 15.8 38.4 17.1 10.9
Morocco 25.1 31.0 29.6 11.4 2.8 15.4 27.8 38.7 11.5 6.5
2 Out of Egypt’s most important 20 export groups (those with the highest average export
value during the period 1990-2004), 8 product groups are primary exports. These include
crude petroleum and natural gas, cotton, rice, aluminium, unprocessed vegetables and fruits,
as well as stone, sand and gravel. The other 12 export groups are concentrated in the resourcebased
and low-tech export categories. A few exceptions are in the medium-tech export
category, such as further-processed iron and steel; sanitary, heating, and lighting equipment;
plastics, packaging material, automotive components, and some household appliances
(Noureldin et al. 2006).