Login
Mineral resources of Poland> Exports and imports of mineral raw materials
English SelectedChange language to Polish
  
    2020     
    2019     
    2018     
    2017     
    2016     
    2015     
    2014     
    2013     
    2012     

Export and import of mineral raw materials

Information on the trade turnover in exports and imports of mineral raw materials in Poland was prepared on the basis of data collected by Polish Custom Service. These data come from special custom statements – SAD (in case of the trade turnover by European Union countries to/from non-EU countries) and INTRASTAT (in case of export and import within EU). Information is prepared according to Combined Nomenclature (CN), which is deeply connected with the international classification system named Harmonized System – HS. Combined Nomenclature is the obligatory one in Polish Customs Tariff since 1991. The Combined Nomenclature is the part of the Integrated Tariff of the European Communities (TARIC) which was established by virtue of Article 2 of Council Regulation (EEC) No 2658/87 of 23 July 1987 on the tariff and statistical nomenclature and on the Common Customs Tariff. Regulation (EC) No 1789/2003 of 11 October 2003 amended the Regulation mentioned above. The Regulation established in 2003 is the obligatory one in Poland since the 1st of May 2004.

In 2015 summary statistic for minerals and mineral commodities in Poland was presented within four groups: fuels, metals, chemicals and rocks. The total magnitude and value of imports–exports of the raw materials as well as for the particular groups of raw materials are presented in Table 1. The export/import values are presented both in PLN and Euro.

The data on mineral raw materials turnover in 2006–2015 do not cover natural gas. Data on natural gas export and import are not available since 2006 due to the confidentiality of the information – according to the Regulation (EC) No 638/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 31 March 2004 on Community statistics relating to the trading of goods between Member States and repealing Council Regulation (EEC) No 3330/91. Natural gas export in Poland amounts only to dozens million m3 annually and the lack of data does not affect the total balance of raw materials turnover. The lack of data on natural gas import to Poland brings down the total amount and value of raw materials brought to Poland. The officially presented data (by Central Statistical Office of Poland) cover only the magnitude of natural gas imported by Poland but without publishing the directions of imports. Therefore, such data are not included in this study. Nevertheless, it should be noted that in analyzed period natural gas import increased from 9–10 billion m3 in 2006–2010 to about 11.2 billion m3 in 2014. Information covering 2015 will be issued later. Therefore, it is worth mentioning that the balance of mineral raw materials turnover is higher than the balance taking into account these figures.

The total value of the raw materials exports decreased by 5.62% in comparison with the previous year and amounted to PLN 49,158 million (Euro 11,776 million) in 2015. The imports value amounted to PLN 76,973 million (Euro 18,434 million) and decreased by 19.41%. The exports–imports turnover balance improved significantly (by PLN 15,615 million) but was still negative and amounted to PLN 27,815 million (Euro 6,659 million) in 2015 (excluding natural gas).

The most important, regarding the value of the raw materials exports in 2015, were: petroleum products (27.44% of the total export value), hard coal and coal derivatives (14.74%), raw materials and products of copper metallurgy (14.94%), aluminum (6.34%), silver (5.59%), nitrogen and multi-component fertilizers (5.71%) and iron and ferroalloys (5.57%).

The highest values of imports, causing negative balance of the turnover value, related to such raw materials as: crude oil (47.82% of the total import value), petroleum products (13.21%), aluminum (7.80%), iron and ferroalloys (4.75%), raw materials and products of copper metallurgy (4.30%), hard coal and coal derivatives (3.39%), nitrogen and multi-component fertilizers (2.78%), potassium raw materials (1.44%), silica (1.24%) and phosphorus (1.15%).

The total quantity of the raw materials imports increased by 2.11% in 2015 and amounted to 64,008 thousand tonnes, while the export quantity increased by 3.14% and amounted to 37,075 thousand tonnes.

Figures 1 and 2 show the structure of exports and imports in Poland, i.e. total values and shares of various groups of commodities in the international turnover.

Figure 1. The structure of mineral raw materials exports in Poland in 2015
Figure 2. The structure of mineral raw materials imports in Poland in 2015

Table 2 shows values of imports–exports balance of particular mineral raw materials groups in last 10 years.

It can be seen that only for metallic raw materials the turnover balance remains positive but 2015 was the third consecutive year with the balance decline. For three remaining raw material groups the balance has been clearly negative (especially for fuels).

Table 3 shows imports–exports balance quantity of particular mineral raw materials groups in last 10 years.

The turnover balance within fuels, metals and rocks has been negative since 2006, while for chemical raw materials the balance remained slightly positive till 2009 and then dropped significantly in the next five years. Considering fuels, it should be noted that taking into account the magnitude of gas import given by the Central Statistical Office of Poland (about 11 million t/y) the balance would drop in 2015 to about -26.8 million tonnes. Accordingly, the total balance would decrease to about -37.9 million tonnes.

The variation of the imports–exports balance by value and quantity for the last 10 years is shown in Figure 3 and Figure 4.

Figure 3. Balance of Polish imports and exports in terms of mineral raw materials value (PLN billion)
Figure 4. Balance of Polish imports and exports in terms of mineral raw materials quantity (million tonnes)

The value balance decreased substantially in 2007–2008 and in 2010–2011. This negative tendency was stopped in 2009 and 2012. The lowest level was attained in 2011 – it amounted to PLN -48.82 billion and improved significantly in 2013 (amounted to PLN -41.56 billion) and 2015 (amounted to PLN -27.82 billion). The quantity balance declined significantly in 2007–2011 with slightly growth in 2009. There was significant improvement of the balance in 2012–2013 when it amounted to -23.31 million tonnes. The balance dropped minutely in 2014 and 2015 to about -27 million tonnes. Taking into account the magnitude of gas import given by the Central Statistical Office of Poland (about 11 billion m3) the balance would drop in 2015 to about -38 million tonnes.

The percentage contributions of the particular groups of raw materials to the value of exports and imports in 2014–2015 are presented in Figures 5 and 6. The highest increase in the contribution to the turnover value with respect to the previous year took place in metals import (by 5.9%) and chemicals import (by 2.2%). The highest decreases were observed within fuels import (by 8.6%) and fuels export (by 2.9%). Fuels are still the most important group especially in Polish imports (due to the crude oil and petroleum products) but they are also contributing strongly in exports value (mainly thanks to the petroleum products and hard coal).

Figure 5. Contribution of mineral raw materials to the value of Polish exports in 2014–2015
Figure 6. Contribution of mineral raw materials to the value of Polish imports in 2014–2015

Regarding quantity of raw materials exports it can be seen that fuels export increased significantly in 2015 (by 1.75 million tonnes). Chemical raw materials exports magnitude rose by 0.42 million tonnes. Metals and rocks export decreased in 2015 by 0.79 million tonnes and 0.26 million tonnes, respectively (Figure 7).

Figure 7. Magnitude of mineral raw materials exports in 2014–2015 (million tonnes)

There were imports growths within three of four raw materials groups. Fuels imports increased by 0.83 million tonnes in 2015 while metals import by 0.56 million tonnes and chemicals by 0.16 million tonnes. Rock raw materials import decreased by 0.23 million tonnes (Figure 8).

Figure 8. Magnitude of mineral raw materials imports in 2014–2015 (million tonnes)

Tables given below show the comparison between export/import values (Table 4) and quantities (Table 5) in 2014–2015.

Total import value in 2015 decreased by 19.41% and export value by 5.62% in comparison with 2014. The import value significantly increased in metal and chemical groups (both by 10.06%), while there were drops observed within fuels and rocks – by 28.56% and 2.38%, respectively. Export value rose by 14.78% for chemicals and by 6.59% for rocks, whereas there were drops noted for fuels (by 11.05%) and metals (by 3.63%).

Total import magnitude in 2015 increased by 2.11% and export by 3.14% in comparison with 2014. The import quantity increased within three groups: metallic raw materials (by 5.45%), chemicals (by 3.09%) and fuels (by 2.07%). The drop was observed in rocks – by 3.18%. The export quantity increased within two groups of mineral raw materials – by 10.34% (chemicals) and by 7.50% (fuels). Metals and rocks export decreased by 21.63% and 5.49%, respectively.

Directions of Polish export and import of mineral raw materials (divided into 4 main groups) are presented in Table 6. There where 25 most important countries selected (according to import/export value).

Regarding the exports directions, similarly to the previous years, the highest value was reached by raw materials export to Germany. The export value to this country amounted to PLN 11,655 million, which constituted 23.71% of the total Polish raw materials exports value. Other important countries with significant contribution to the total Polish raw materials exports value were Czech Republic (13.15%) and Netherlands (7.21%) (Figure 9). The total export value to these three countries amounted to PLN 21,666 million (44.07% of the total export value).

Figure 9. Polish raw materials export in 2015, by countries

The major part of the mineral raw materials imports in 2015 came from Russia. The import value was PLN 38,145 million, which constitutes 49.56% of the total mineral raw materials imports value in Poland. Other important countries were Germany (9.47%) and Kazakhstan (4.44%) (Figure 10). The total import value from these three countries amounted to PLN 48,855 million (63.47% of the total import value).

Figure 10. Polish raw materials import in 2015, by countries

Prepared by: Marcin Tymiński