Cuban trade hit 7.5 billion dollars in 2004

Cuban trade hit 7.5 billion dollars in 2004
Tuesday,  November 8, 2005

HAVANA, Cuba (AFP): Cuba's trade volume reached 7.5 billion dollars last year, with Venezuela heading Cuba's list of most important commercial partners, a Cuban official said.
The communist-ruled island's imports were worth more than 5.6 billion dollars, with exports of 1.9 billion, leaving Cuba with a foreign trade deficit of 3.8 billion dollars, according to Deputy Foreign Trade Minister Antonio Luis Carricarte.
Carricarte told the weekly Opciones that this year Cuban foreign trade grew 22 percent.
"Exports tend to go down primarily because of decreased sales of sugar and its by products," the deputy minister said. "In addition, world prices for nickel have slumped. However, our exports of tobacco and non-traditional items have gone up."
Meanwhile, imports including fuel, food, metals, chemicals and industrial equipment went up 34 percent, Carricarte said.
The list of Cuba's main trade partners is led by Venezuela, whose share of trade reached 22 percent.
It is followed by China (10 percent), Spain and Canada (both eight percent), the Netherlands (seven percent), the United States (five percent), Brazil (four percent) and Vietnam, Italy and Japan (three percent each).
Venezuela sells Cuba 90,000 barrels of oil a day at preferential prices.

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