Colombia March Exports Rise 17% on Manufactured Goods (Update1)

May 29 (<a href=quote.bloomberg.com>Bloomberg) -- Colombian exports rose 17 percent in March as trade benefits that the U.S. granted for help in its war on drugs spurred shipments of manufactured and semi-manufactured goods such as clothing and plastic parts.

Exports rose to $1 billion worth of goods from $859 million in the same month a year earlier, the government's statistics agency in Bogota said.

Sales of Colombian goods abroad may help the country sustain an economy that had its fastest growth since 1998 in the first quarter, analysts said. Higher oil prices before the war in Iraq boosted the value of Colombia's biggest export while shipments to the U.S. helped counter a decline in sales to Venezuela, Colombia's second-biggest trade partner before a devaluation and strike that led to a record contraction in its economy.

This is very, very positive,'' said Alberto Bernal, who covers Colombia for research company IDEAglobal.com. The growth in manufactured and semi-manufactured goods means trade benefits granted by the U.S. are giving better-than-expected results.''

Colombian exports of non-traditional goods, ranging from textiles to steel, leather goods, pearls and precious metals, rose 25 percent to $559 million, while exports of oil rose 16 percent to $285 million, the agency said.

Exports to the U.S. rose 19 percent to $256 million after the U.S. last year extended and expanded reductions in duties in exchange for Colombia's help in promoting legal alternatives drug trafficking.

Exports to Venezuela fell 21 percent to less than $1 million, because of currency controls implemented in the neighboring country and a 29 percent contraction of its economy in the first quarter that crippled purchasing power.

Last Updated: May 29, 2003 16:17 EDT