Tunisia’s phosphate exports posed an increase of 3.1% over the first nine month of 2016.
The National Statistics Institute explained the increase by two key factors. First, renewed export of phosphate and derivatives that have recovered its pace, recording an increase of 72.1% due to higher exports of phosphoric acid (440.8 MTD against 195.6 MDT). The two graphs of INS highlight the boom and bust of exports in this sector, according to strikes, sit-in and social movements since 2011 that cripple the entire sector and all the Tunisian economy.
The second factor, by which the INS explains the slight increase of Tunisian exports in September 2016 is the 16.5% increase in exports of mechanical and electrical industries (IME) and a rebound in exports of textile sector by 8.2% that remains very strongly impacted by the effect of the free trade agreement with Turkey that killed hundreds of garment factories in Tunisia and in the textile area of Monastir in particular.
