Zimbabwe mineral exports up sharply
Zimbabwe exported a total of 426 359 tonnes of various minerals valued at about US$403 million in the first five months to May, up from US$191,9 million realised during the same period last year, official figures show.
The Minerals Marketing Corporation of Zimbabwe has said that platinum from Zimplats accounted for the bulk of mineral sales as 163,316 ounces valued at US$175,756 million were exported.
PLatinum group metal concentrate from Mimosa Platinum mines were valued at US$129,6 million.
A total of 412 086 carats of diamonds valued at US$23,45 million were sold between January and May. The diamonds come from Kimberley Process approved RioZim Murowa Mines and River Ranch.
Diamonds at the controversial Chiadzwa diamond fields have not yet been certified.
Zimbabwe trade deficit widens
Meanwhile other official data shows that Zimbabwe's trade deficit has grown worse. The trade deficit is the difference between exports and imports - a deficit is realised when imports exceed imports.
The deficit ballooned 150% in first five months of the year as imports surged faster than the value of external trade.
The country’s balance of trade reached minus $300 million in April from about $120 million at the beginning of the year after imports notched $500 million against $200 million receipted from external shipments.
In February last year when the country launched the multiple currency regime, the current account deficit — denoting the excess of imports over exports — was only $40 million.
Paradoxically, the decline in exports comes about as the country reports an improvement in capacity utilisation and industrial output in nearly every sector of the economy.
Kumbirayi Katsande, the immediate past president of the Confederation Zimbabwe Industries (CZI) thinks this merely reflects that local companies suddenly drifted from external markets to the local one, in response to “dollarisation”.