German trade with China largely unaffected by lockdowns – stats office

BERLIN (Reuters) – German trade with China in April was little affected by COVID-19 lockdowns and consequent disarray in supply chains, the Federal Statistics Office said on Monday.

Germany imported goods worth 16.7 billion euros ($17.5 billion) from China in April, up 52.8% on a year earlier, said the statistics office. Importation of chemical products, up six-fold, particularly drove the increase, but other product groups also rose considerably.

Exports to China in April, on the other hand, were down 1.5% from a year before at 8.3 billion euros, according to the office.

“German foreign trade in April 2022 was still largely unaffected by the Covid-19 lockdowns in the People’s Republic of China and the related disruptions in freight transport,” it said.

Imports from Russia also rose sharply for a second consecutive month since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, growing by 41.9% to 3.7 billion euros in April, said the office.

Crude oil and natural gas were the most important import goods from Russia, growing in value terms by 37.8% to 2.2 billion euros, said the office.

“The increases in the value of imports are mainly due to the higher prices – especially in the energy sector,” said the office, which added that the volume of goods imported from Russia in April was down 26.1% on a year earlier.

($1 = 0.9540 euros)

(Reporting by Rene Wagner; Writing by Miranda Murray; Editing by Bradley Perrett)