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3-month, fuel and beer imports, double-digit growth, coffee down

2024-05-06 07:19:00, Ekonomi CNA

3-month, fuel and beer imports, double-digit growth, coffee down

Illustrative photo

Imports of excise goods continued to grow at high rates in the first 3 months of the year, except for coffee, following the upward trend of imports as for most other consumer items.

Official data from the Ministry of Finance shows that during the period January-March 2024, fuel imports increased by 7.1%, the highest level since the same period in 2021. In the first three months, 137,541 tons of fuel were imported from 128,319 our last year.

The higher imports are related to the positive developments in the transport sector, from the higher flow of passengers as a result of the progress of tourism, affirm the sources from the market.

The number of tourists increased by about 43% in the first 3 months, driving the need for higher circulation of vehicles that use fuel.

The import of cigarettes also increased by about 2.3%. In the first 3 months, 685 tons of cigarettes were imported from 670 tons in January-March 2023. The amounts of cigarette clearances improved in March, since in January and February they were at lower levels than in 2023.

Cigarette imports, unlike other excise goods, have greater fluctuations in the quantities of imports with ups and downs that are often not a reflection of consumption. With the adoption of the anti-tobacco law years ago, there was a noticeable decrease in the import of cigarettes.

With the shrinking of the young population as a result of emigration and the drop in births after the 1990s, cigarette consumption has decreased.

The data show that beer imports increased further in the first quarter by about 19%. A total of 9,638 tons of beer were imported from 8,105 tons in January-March 2023. In recent years, beer imports have grown rapidly, occupying a significant share of the market.

This development has hurt the financial positions of domestic beer lines. The share of imports in beer consumption for 2023 reached 60% from 44% that was about 1 decade ago, losing about 16% of the market.

The increase in beer imports was also boosted by the removal of the government's protective fiscal measure for small breweries last year. The production of the country before the fiscal changes was charged with 360 ALL/HL for producers under 200,000 HL, while for production above this level the excise duty was 710 ALL.

After the approval of the changes in the law "On excise duties in the Republic of Albania", the tax was unified at 710 lek for producers under and over 200,000 HL, both local and foreign.

Only coffee imports have decreased. In January-March 2024, 1555 tons of coffee were imported from 1835 tons in the same period of 2023.

The monthly data show that, in January and March, coffee imports decreased, while in February they were higher than in 2023. Coffee and cigarette imports have large monthly fluctuations also depending on the plans of the suppliers based on price conjunctures in international markets.

In general, tourism is promoting import channels, since in the first three months of 2023, according to INSTAT data, food imports in quantity have increased by 22%/ Monitor magazine.