Photo: Swiss Federal Customs Office
BASEL / GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – Lower prices across the border in France thanks to the high Swiss franc don’t always mean the Swiss lose out: the Swiss Customs Office says that in 2011 its revenues rose thanks to import declarations, from CHF28.7 million to CHF39.8m.
Imported border goods remain nevertheless a small part of customs revenues, only 0.2 percent of the CHF23.47 billion, which is more than one-third of all Swiss federal revenues.
The 30 percent increase in declared goods was accompanied by revenues from those who couldn’t resist the temptation to buy more without declaring the goods, as the number of contraband merchandise cases rose by 36 percent.
Customs offices and border guards say that while contraband goods are brought in by amateurs and professionals, they focused on the second group last year and uncovered 5,800 cases, some 400 more than in 2010.
They delivered 2,960 people to the police and discovered 1,477 falsified or illegally used documents and 1,308 illegal arms.
They seized, among other drugs, 208 litres of KO drops, more than triple the quantity found in 2010 and equal to 100,000 doses. It has no smell or taste and is “regularly used in kidnappings and sexual crimes”, notes the federal office.
Seized in Bardonnex, 2011
The most popularly imported illegal drop was Viagra-type erection drugs and the most popular source country was India.
Foods remain high on the list of illegal imports: fruits and vegetables (818 tons), cereal for human consumption (41 T), spirits (32 T), Wine (24 T), Meat and meat products (28.5 T), Olive and other consumable oils (20 T), Milk and cheese products (3 T).
Imports stagnant, exports grow: high franc pressures both
Source: Swiss Statistical Office, 22.11.11
BERN, SWITZERLAND – The Swiss trade balance for 2011 to date has ballooned by 10 percent compared to a year earlier, to CHF2.2 billion, October trade figures show.
The high franc continues to put pressure on prices, and exports continued to show slowed growth of 1.5 percent for the month, with export prices falling 7.3 percent.
Imports were stagnant at CHF14.9m, compared to exports of CHF17b, but prices slipped with imports as well, down 3.2 percent, with prices for goods down 2.6 percent.
The watchmaking, chemicals and machining industries grew, but their export growth hides the bigger picture, with most other industries showing continuing falling exports.
Swiss exports, imports (Source: Swiss Statistical Office, 20.10.11)
BERN, SWITZERLAND – Swiss exports and imports continued to expand in the first nine months of 2011, but with the rate of growth slowing down steadily and “losing strength” and reflecting the state of the world economy, the Swiss Statistical Office said Thursday morning in a press release.
Exports grew by 2.4 percent from January to September, CHF147 billion, with growth in the first two quarters but a decline in the third.
The growth was achieved despite falling prices, down 10.7 percent in real terms, although without including pharmaceuticals, prices fell by 7 percent.
Imports rose in the first nine months but by a weak 1 percent.
Switzerland showed a positive trade balance from January to September of CHF16.7b, a one-year 14.7 percent increase. A CHF17b surplus with Asia offset the CHF16.3b deficit with the European Union.
A bright spot: orders from Italy, France and Germany rose by 4 percent in September.
Funds to help companies cover the cost of partial unemployment
BERN, SWITZERLAND – The two houses of parliament have given the green light to government measures to fight the high franc, with the lower house Wednesday approving the Federal Council’s CHF870 million project.
The bulk of the funds will go to help companies cover the cost of partial unemployment that is likely to rise as exports fall. The unemployment fund is being allotted a ceiling of CHF500 from the package, money that may not be needed.
Smaller amounts target specific areas, such as innovative products in the tourism sector and transformed agricultural products.
Trade figures for August, released Wednesday, show exports down 4.1 percent and imports down 6.2 percent, although exports grew by just over 1 percent when figures are corrected for inflation. Exports have grown by 2.6 percent since the start of 2011, but the increase has relied on only three business sectors: watchmaking, machinery and electronics, metal-working.
The State Secretariat for the Economy lowered its GDP growth forecast Wednesday, to 1.9 percent for 2011 and 0.9 percent, from earlier projections of 2.1 and 1.5 percent respectively.
Update 11:30 NEUCHATEL, SWITZERLAND – Swiss exports were up 3.3 percent in July compared to a year earlier, despite the high Swiss franc, and imports were up 2.2 percent. The figures, adjusted for one fewer open day in 2011, nevertheless show a slowdown in growth. Only 3 of 10 industries showed gains: watches, machinery and electronics, metallurgy.
Watchmaking in particular outpaced the Swiss franc’s growth, with a 21.2 percent improvement over July 2010. Worst hit were the paper and graphic arts industries, down more than 13 percent.
“Yellow light” was the phrase used by the Swiss Customs Office in providing July export and import figures Tuesday 23 August, from the period when the franc’s strong growth against other currencies broke several records.
Switzerland had a trade balance surplus of CHF2.8 billion at the end of the period. Exports were CHF16.6 billion and imports CHF13.8b. Unadjusted figures for January to June 2011 show exports growing 3.6 percent to CHF116.9 billion.
There were significant prices cuts because of the high franc, 6.2 percent for exports, while imports were devalued by 1.8 percent.
Exports to China, Hong Kong and Australia were strong, but they also grew to the United States, by 3 percent, despite the weakening dollar. Exports to Europe were overall steady, but fell sharply to Portugal and Greece.
Imports were down overall except from Oceania and Asia, the latter mainly a sharp increase in gold for melting, from Vietnam. Imports from the US were down by one-quarter. Imports from Germany were flat but they were up 10 percent from the Czech Republic.
ZURICH, SWITZERLAND – ABB’s profits are up, but Roche’s are down, the Swiss competition commissioner says the low euro is showing that savings are not passed on to Swiss consumers, and exports are holding their own, just. The continuing strength of the Swiss franc coupled with the weakness of the euro is etching out a mixed picture for Swiss industry, with half-year results coming in this week.
The euro’s situation could well shift after European Union leaders meet Thursday afternoon 21 July to resolve the Greek debt crisis, with pundits and markets more optimistic since sparring partners France’s President Nicolas Sarkozy and Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel agreed on a way forward Wednesday night.
Exports up 4.6 percent in first six months, but slowing down in Q2, prices down
Exports by industry, nominal variations in %, comparison with previous year for June and Jan-June (click on image to view larger)
Switzerland had a trade balance surplus of CHF11.6 billion at the end of June, with exports for the first half of the year up 4.3 percent compared to a year earlier, and imports up 2.7 percent.
The figures hide a slowdown in the second quarter, attributable to the growing strength of the Swiss franc during that period, says Bern: only three industries saw growth and prices were down by 4 percent excluding the pharmaceutical industry and 6.6 percent including it.
Demand for Swiss products and services from Asia were strong, up 14.4 percent, while European orders were stagnant at 0.9 percent; the same held true for imports, with some surprises. Despite the weak dollar, imports from the United States were down 10 percent and from Canada down 25 percent.
BERN, SWITZERLAND – The Swiss Department of the Interior Thursday moved to ban, effective immediately, several Egyptian agricultural products to protect consumers from the possibility of E. Coli (EHEC) contamination. The ban is effective until 31 October and covers a number of types of sprouts, beans and seeds sold to consumers as well as sprouts and seeds for planting and for animals foods.
The move follows the 6 July announcement by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) that the German and French E. Coli outbreaks had been traced imported Egyptian fenugreek seeds. Switzerland issued an alert against consuming fenagreek, as a precaution, 6 July, but EFSA informed the Swiss after that grains were found in animal foods that Switzerland imports.
Fenugreek is an ages-old remedy to increase the flow of breast milk when nursing.
Bern says that epidemiological tests have now shown the E. Coli appeared due to handling problems during production, but the precise source of the problem is still being sought by European health authorities. A tiny amount of a product carrying the bacteria can cause severe health problems.
BERN, SWITZERLAND – Chemical products that pose a serious health danger are parading as “herbal” weight loss products, sold online and imported illegally, warns Swissmedic, which has responsibility in Switzerland for overseeing medical and therapeutic products.
Two ingredients in particular, Sibutramine and Rimonabant, both of which are banned substances in Europe, were found in 122 samples of various slimming products that were seized in 2010.
The products were seized by customs as illegal imports.
Only six products were actually “herbal” and only 10 were “genuine medicinal products”, while four contained active substances that were not the ones listed, including two that have not been tested on humans.
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – Chinese government figures released Tuesday 17 May show that the European Union region, which includes Switzerland, has replaced Japan as the top source for imported goods. The figures cover the first four months of 2011, reports Xinhua news agency.
Trade between the two was $170 billion from April to January, a 23 percent increase, while imports from Japan fell sharply in the weeks following the earthquake that hit the country in March. Figures from the European Commission show trade growing strongly between the EU and China in 2010, with EU exports up 38 percent and imports from China up 31 percent. China is the EU’s largest import source and its second largest trading partner, after the US.
Both show trade figures while mentioning trade tensions, particularly over subsidies.
Sales but clothing prices rose nevertheless in April
Neuchatel, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - The Swiss Consumer Price Index (CPI) eased up 0.1 percent in April, with prices showing a slower growth rate than the 1 percent in March or the 1.4 percent growth rate a year earlier, in April 2010, figures published by the Swiss Statistical Office Tuesday 10 May show.
Petrol and clothing prices accounted for most of the increase, with shoes and clothing going up 1.8 percent as new models replaced old stocks.
Petrol rose 1.8 percent and diesel 1.6 percent. The price of food fell by 0.8 percent, offsetting to some extent food and petrol increases.
Prices of goods produced in Switzerland remained stable while imports’ prices rose 1.4 percent.
The European Union publishes its April figures 16 May; Swiss prices can be compared using the Harmonized Index of Consumer Prices.
Bern, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) -”All the samples tested up to now have been negative and the products may be sold,” the Swiss federal council said about Japanese foods in a statement issued late Thursday 14 April. “Food products coming from Japan and sold in Switzerland pose no danger to health.”
The announcement was part of a broader statement about Switzerland bringing its checks on Japanese food into line with newly revised European Union standards in the wake of recent radiation fears in Japan. The Swiss federal government noted the importance of maintaining identical standards, to help Japanese exporters, Swiss importers and consumers.
Philipp Hildebrand, president, Swiss National Bank
Bern, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - The case of Switzerland will give economists material to mull over, with Swiss exports showing a surprising leap in February, increasing by 10 percent. The machine industry and electronics led the way, with 20 percent growth.
Imports grew, but more “timidly” says the federal government.
Switzerland now shows a positive trade balance of CHF2.5 billion, double what it was a year earlier, and this despite concerns about the strong franc in recent months.
Philipp Hildebrand, Swiss National Bank (SNB) president, speaking to a group of journalists in Geneva Tuesday noon qualified Swiss exports as “remarkably resilient” but he warned that the Swiss economy will eventually see growth slow down as a result of the impact of the Swiss franc. The SNB 17 March revised upwards to 2 percent its forecast for growth of the Swiss economy in 2011, cautioning at the time that growth will slow down by 2012 due in part to the strong franc.
Hildebrand points to three risk areas for the Swiss economy: the high Swiss franc, the uncertain situation in the Middle East and the problems created by the earthquake and tsunami in Japan.
Bloomberg reports Tuesday that the Swiss franc “gained 12 percent over the last year versus the euro, the currency of its main trading partner, eroding exporters’ competitiveness. Against the dollar, it reached a record 88.52 centimes per dollar on March 17.”
The British economy is leaving analysts with plenty to discuss following publication 12 January of trade balance figures that show a widening gap and news that the Bank of England is keeping interest rates down. The difference between goods exports and imports grew to £8.74 billion from £8.59b, from October to November. “This was the biggest deficit since monthly records began in January 1980, and confounded expectations for the gap to narrow,” reports Reuters, noting that when “volatile” items such as oil and aircraft are taken out the news is more positive, with some evidence that the relatively weak pound is starting to help exporters.
The Bank of England will announce at noon UK time Thursday 13 January whether it will raise interest rates, but it is widely expected to keep them low, although futures rates are predicting a rise by late spring, from the record low of 0.5 percent. Growing inflation is likely to be a greater concern for monetary policy makers, given that the rate was above the targeted 2 percent during all of 2010 and appears ready to rise to 4 percent during 2011.
Links to other sites: Bank of England, Reuters, Telegraph
Strong trade with Asia, Latin America; watch and machining industries recovering
Swiss exports, November 2010, by industry, compared to November 2009 (source: Swiss Federal Statistics Office)
(video, Hublot watchmaking) Bern, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Swiss foreign trade improved in November 2010 compared to November 2009, with exports of CHF17.5 billion up 7.4 percent and imports of CHF15.6b up 11.3 percent, both in real terms, adjusted for inflation.
The trade balance, with a surplus of CHF1.9b, was 5 percent lower than in the same period a year earlier. The trade balance in October was more than 13 percent down from a year earlier, and in September 8 percent, indicating a closing gap as Swiss foreign trade rebounds from the global economic crisis.
Euro at record low against franc Monday
The news comes as the euro Monday 20 December reached an all-time low against the Swiss franc, dipping to CHF1.2636 at one point, report Dow Jones and Le Temps. The dollar was at CHF0.96 in trading Tuesday (Reuters chart, dollar/franc since October 2010).
For 2010 as a whole, rounded figures show that Swiss exports have risen 7 percent and imports 8 percent. The trade balance of CHF18.76 at the end of November was down 1.2 percent compared to 2009, for the year to date.
Watchmakers at Hublot in Nyon, part of a sought-after highly skilled group
The watch industry was the main driver in November, with a 30 percent increase in exports, well up from a year earlier. Metal-working, machining and electronic industries also showed good growth, but the clothing industry continued to perform weakly, with exports lower than a year earlier.
Le Temps reports 21 December that while the watch industry is hiring again, and more than 700 jobs are currently advertised in the Jura region which is the heartland of the Swiss watch industry, some of the companies are still struggling to recover.
There was no cocaine in this import
Lausanne, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) -Magnetic Resonance Symmetry (MRS), the technique behind MRI scans done in hospitals could well be adopted by customs officials, if Swiss researchers in Lausanne and Geneva have their way. MRS has been shown by the group to be useful for scanning large cargoes and spotting cocaine that is being smuggled in wine bottles without having to open or disturb the cargo container.
A man in the UK reportedly died in 2009 as a result of unwittingly consuming cocaine-laced wine, but customs officials have a tough job spotting such bottles, or have had until now. They must carry out drug-panel tests on open bottles, but “first, contaminated cargo can be overlooked, since it is not possible to check a large number of samples,” writes Giulio Gambarota of EPFL in the Wiley Online Library.
“Second, cargo with expensive wine cannot be systematically sampled at a reasonable cost. Thus, a ‘non-invasive’ approach is of interest, as it would allow for an increase in sampling rate, without alterations to the cargo itself.”
The research work showed that “dissolved cocaine can be detected in intact wine bottles, on a standard clinical MR scanner” in about a minute, making it the option of choice, writes the lead author.
Neuchatel, Switzerland (GenevaLunch.com) – Producers’ prices and import prices in Switzerland fell by 0.4 percent in June, the first decline in four months. Year-to-year, prices were nevertheless 0.9 percent higher at the end of June. Lower prices for petrol and metal accounted for the fall registered by Switzerland’s statistical office.
Your place or mine? We're both likely to have DVD players
Bern, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - The Swiss love their DVDs: the country imported a record number of DVD players in 2009, 1.2 million. The number has doubled in just under six years and today every third household has a DVD player.
The DVD players had a total value of CHF175 million, but the machines themselves have been getting both lighter and less costly: the price fell from CHF187 on average in 2005 to CHF149 in 2009 and the weight dropped from 5 kilos to half that.
Bern, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The Swiss drank more French champagne and more bottled wine from Italy, and especially more imported red wine in 2009, a year where the global economic crisis appears to have had a curious impact on wine consumption in the country. Imports rose by 3.4 percent in 2009, after falling in 2008, with Italy remaining the largest exporter to Switzerland, accounting for 37 percent of imported wine. Bulk white wines, imported mainly from Italy but bottled in Switzerland, fell by 5.4 percent while bottled white wine from the southern neighbour rose by 5.9 percent, indicating a shift in consumer habits, with growing interest in domain wines from abroad.
Consumption rose more slowly than imports, with stocks increasing.
New world wines lag well behind European imports, with France in second place, 23 percent, and Spain in third, 20 percent of imports. France is the leader in value terms, with 36 percent of the import market, thanks to the price of champagne. Imports from Germany and Chile were up strongly, while South African wine imports fell.
Total wine consumption in Switzerland slipped by 0.9 percent to 2.8 million hectolitres, with a fall in Swiss wine consumption, down by 49,030 hectolitres, playing a key role. A hectolitre equals 100 litres and is used to measure wine consumption in Europe.
Swiss German wine consumption rose, while French-speaking Switzerland’s wines slipped on the home market, the opposite of the situation in 2008.
Bern, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Swiss exports were up 3.3 percent in nominal terms (-0.6 in real terms) in February, to CHF13.9 billion, and for the first time since 2008 they rose for most business sectors. Imports slipped and trade for the first two months of 2010 shows opposite trends, with exports up 1.3 percent but imports down by 2.4 percent. The balance of trade at the end of February was positive, at CHF1.3 billion.
Chinese imports for January rose by 86 percent compared to the same month a year earlier, and exports rose by 21 percent, the second month showing an increase after a year’s stalemate. The overall trade increase of more than 44 percents comes as some figures are showing China to be the world’s largest exporter. The Chinese impact on the world economic rebound “may reinforce overseas calls for China to allow a stronger currency,” reports Bloomberg.
Exports, port of Basel
Update 11:40 Bern, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Switzerland officially moved out of recession in the third quarter of 2009, Bern announced Tuesday 1 December. Real GDP (gross domestic product) was up 0.3 percent compared to the previous quarter. Private consumption (+0.6 percent) and building investments both grew, and healthcare plus the financial and insurance industries also rose. Investments were up “massively”, with industrial goods investments rising by 5.5 percent.
The government’s own “consumption expenditure” rose by 1.3 percent.
Exports of goods and services both climbed, by 2.2 and 0.3 percent respectively, for the first time “after a considerable one-year slide” the government statement reports.
Japan’s trade surplus reached 521 billion yen in September, about 472 percent more than a year ago, but it still disappointed analysts. Exports were down 30.7 percent compared to a year earlier, but in August that figure reached 36 percent, according to figures released by the Japanese Finance Ministry Thursday 22 October.
The Japanese yen has increased in value against all major currencies this year, making Japanese goods more expensive for foreigners.
Imports were down almost 37 percent in the month, with crude oil imports down 2.4 percent over the year, reflecting depressed demand at home. Bloomberg, Romandie News
China has begun supplying oil to Iran in the past month and already accounts for one-third of the country’s fuel imports, the Financial Times reports. Oil imports are not part of a United Nations sanction and the supplies are legal, but the move comes as G20 world leaders, meeting in New York Wednesday 23 September, discuss enforcing sanctions against Iran to discourage it from further developing its nuclear programme. Iran insists the nuclear programme is for peaceful purposes, as a source of energy, and that it is not building bombs. The country is one of the world’s largest oil producers, but its aging system is inefficient and it imports 120,000 barrels a day, according to the FT. China agreed in 2004 to purchase oil from Iran and to invest in its system. The $100 billion deal in 2006 prompted concern in the US, with observers saying that China appeared to be rushing to sign the deal ahead of sanctions. In the latest twist to the story China’s oil replaces that from companies such as BP which have stopped supplying Iran. Washington Post, 2006, Brookings Institution editorial, July 2009
Source: Swiss customs office (click on image to view larger)
Bern, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Several economic indicators published by the Swiss federal government Tuesday 21 September show an economy still in the doldrums, but with the outlook slightly more optimistic than in August 2009. Exports are down and imports are down by an even larger percentage, the economy is stabilizing but will remain “sluggish” in 2010 and unemployment is high. The good news: while the picture is still gloomy, it’s getting a little brighter.
GDP growth positive, if only slightly, in 2010
The government’s economic advisory “Expert Group” released its latest quarterly projections, which include a “weaker decline” of GDP (gross domestic product), from -2.7 percent expected in June to -1.7 percent forecast now. The group now expects positive GDP growth in 2010 of 0.4 percent rather than the -0.4 percent projected earlier. Private consumption and building investment are holding relatively steady, which is helping Switzerland to have a recession less dramatic than in many countries, although 2009 will go down as the worst year since 1975 for GDP decline.
China’s industrial output grew by 12 percent in August, a 12-month high and better than forecast by the government, which was looking for 10 percent growth. Foreign trade – exports and imports combined – were $91.7 billion, down 20.6 percent compared to August 2008 but a 2.3 percent increase from July.
Other key economic data published by the government’s statistics office Friday included:
- urban fixed asset investment is up 33 percent for the first eight months of the year
- new loans in yuan in rose from Yuan36 billion in July to Yuan410b in August
- the consumer price index fell by 1.2 percent and the producer price index fell by 7.9 percent, both as compared to a year earlier, but the rate of decline is slowing.
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – World trade rebounded sharply in the second quarter, according to World Trade Organization (WTO) figures just released. World exports (which are also world imports) increased by 7.7 percent in the second quarter of 2009, compared with the first quarter, and reached $2.88 trillion in the second quarter, up 6.6 percent overall.
The answer to the question of who is the world’s leading exporter was announced 8 September by the German Federal Statistical Office (Destatis). China’s export figures for July are $105,420 billion, an increase of 10.4 percent over June’s figures. Germany announced that exports were € 70.5 billion, or $102,155b. This is an unadjusted increase of 6.6 percent from June 2009. Both countries were neck-and-neck in June.
Quarterly world merchandise export developments, 2005-09 (2005Q1=100, in current US dollars), WTO
All of the WTO reporting regions show a rebound in the first quarter.
Bern, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Switzerland’s foreign trade in July remained in the doldrums after a sharp drop in the first half of the year. Imports were down 14 percent in real terms, compared to last year, and a little lower than in June 2009. Exports too were lower than in 2008 by 15.1 percent, an improvement on June’s 22.3 percent drop year-on-year drop. Overall the trade balance was slightly positive in July at CHF 2.35 billion, an increase of 0.1 percent over July 2008. The figures were released by the Swiss Federal Customs Administration (SFCA).
Neuchatel, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Prices for goods produced in Switzerland remained stable, down only negligibly and prices of imported goods were also stable, with only a very slight rise in July, the Swiss Statistical Office said Friday 14 August. This is the second month in a row that prices have remained stable. Prices are down 6.1 percent overall year on year, compared to July 2008, but the main reason is a significant drop in the price of oil compared to 12 months earlier.
China, faced with a 55 percent tariff on tires imported into the United States, is asking the US for a “fair ruling” on the proposed import restrictions that have resulted from a petition filed in the US by the Steelworkers Union, for import relief. The proposed tariff, which would drop to 45 and then 35 percent in the second and third years, is being closely watched as a protectionism test case for US President Barack Obama, who is expected to rule on the matter in mid-September. China argues that its tires are mainly replacement tires and are complementary, not competitive, with tires made in the US. A Rutgers University study in the US indicates that for every job saved in the US by tire import tariffs, another 12-25 could be lost. Xhinhua, Reuters, Tire Business, US
Bern, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The Swiss government said Tuesday 23 June in announcing trade figures for May that there is “not a glimmer of hope on the horizon” with both exports and imports down by one-fifth. Seven out of 10 export businesses showed drops of 22 to 39 percent. Imports of energy, raw materials and semi-finished products all fell by one-third, reflecting the decline in orders. The May figures confirm the downward trend for the first four months of the year.
