Top Romanian Imports & Exports

Leading trade partners that consume Romanian exports are Italy (17.9% of total exports), Germany (15.7%), Turkey (7.7%), France (7.5%), Hungary (4.9%) and the United Kingdom (4.7%). Romania ships about 1.5% of its exports to the United States.

Principal Romanian exports include agricultural products, chemicals, footwear, fuels, machinery, metal products and textiles.

U.S. exports account for just over 1% of Romania’s imported products. Leading exporters into Romania include Germany (15.2% of total imports), Italy (14.5%), Russia (7.8%), France (6.5%), Turkey (4.9%) and China (4.3%).

In 2007, Romania exported an estimated US$40.25 billion worth of goods onto the international trade marketplace. Romanian imports totalled roughly $64.33 billion, resulting in Romania’s overall $24.1-billion trade deficit last year.

Romanian Trade with U.S.

Despite its overall deficit, Romania enjoyed a US$373.7-million trade surplus with its American trade partner in 2007. The most recent surplus statistic is 2.9% higher than the Romania-US surplus in 2003 but represents a 33.8% decrease from the $565-million surplus in 2006 before the former Communist nation had joined the European Union.

Exports from Romania to U.S.

With a population of 22.2 million, Romania exported US$1.1 billion worth of merchandise to the United States in 2007, an 5.8% decrease from 2006 and up by 44.3% in 4 years. The following product categories represent about 60% of Romanian exports to America.

1. Fertilizers, insecticides and pesticides … US$117.3 million – up 15.2% from 2006 (11.1% of Romania-to-U.S. exports)
2. Other industrial machinery … $105.4 million – up 32.7% (10%)
3. Automotive tires and tubes … $84.7 million – up 73.6% (8%)
4. Unmanufactured steelmaking and ferroalloying materials … $51.3 million – up 120.9% (4.9%)
5. Cotton apparel and household goods … $46.5 million – down 3.5% (4.4%)
6. Civilian aircraft engines … $44.1 million – up 44.3% (4.2%)
7. Semifinished iron and steel mill products … $43.3 million – up 76.7% (4.1%)
8. Non-cotton apparel and household goods … $42.4 million – down 9.2% (4%)
9. Drilling and oil field equipment … $42.2 million – down 38.6% (4%)
10. Intermediate iron and steel products … $40.3 million – down 20% (3.8%).

In aggregate, Romania’s top 10 export product categories experienced increased sales to the U.S. in 2007, up 14.9% from 2006. This contrasts with a 16% decline for the top 10 Romanian exports to the U.S. from 2005 to 2006.

Fastest-Growing Romanian Exports to U.S.

Below are selected Romanian exports to America in 2007 with the highest percentage sales increases from 2006.

1. Dental, medicinal and pharmaceutical preparations … $1.8 million (up 486.2% from 2006)
2. Other military equipment … $3.5 million (up 334.5%)
3. Engines and engine parts … $8.1 million (up 305%)
4. Laboratory and testing control instruments … $2.2 million (up 224.2%)
5. Materials handling equipment … $5.6 million (up 172.6%).

Fastest-Declining Romanian Exports to U.S.

Selected Romanian exports to America in 2007 with the highest percentage sales decreases from 2006 are listed below.

1. Other petroleum products … US$5.1 million (down 94.2% from 2006)
2. Finished textile industrial supplies … $2.9 million (down 60.9%)
3. Agricultural machinery and equipment … $1.7 million (down 60.8%)
4. Bauxite and aluminum … $33.5 million (down 53.6%)
5. Rugs and other textile floor coverings … $1.8 million (down 39.3%).

Romanian Imports from U.S.

Romanian imports from the U.S. rose by 22.8% to $680.4 million in 2007, up 85.5% since 2003.

Of American exports to Romania in 2007, the following product categories had the highest values and in total represented almost half of all U.S. shipments into Romania.

1. Coal and other fuels … US$66.1 million – down 19.3% from 2006 (9.7% of Romanian imports from America)
2. Telecommunications equipment … $61.9 million – up 19.9% (9.1%)
3. Drilling and oil field equipment … $42.7 million – up 231.3% (6.3%)
4. Unmanufactured tobacco … $27.9 million – up 39.3% (4.1%)
5. Computer accessories … $25.1 million – down 7.4% (3.7%)
6. New and used passenger cars … $24.5 million – up 352.9% (3.6%)
7. Measuring, testing and control instruments … $23 million – up 55.1% (3.4%)
8. Metallurgical grade coal … $21.7 million – up 131.5% (3.2%)
9. Medicinal equipment … $20.1 million – up 94.1% (3%).
10. Service industry machinery … $17.8 million – up 92.5% (2.6%)

Last year, Romania’s top 10 import product categories from the U.S. grew by 6.1% from 2006. From 2005 to 2006, the top 10 Romanian imports from the U.S. had gained well under 1%.

Fastest-Growing Romanian Imports from U.S.

Below are selected American exports to Romania in 2007 with the highest percentage sales increases from 2006.

1. Complete civilian aircraft … US$17.5 million (up 62,450%)
2. Military aircraft engines and turbines … $10.6 million (up 7,798%)
3. Corn … $5.2 million (up 1,578%)
4. Steelmaking materials… $4.2 million (up 1,079%)
5. Televisions, VCRs, DVD players … $3.1 million (up 1,056%).

Fastest-Declining Romanian Imports from U.S.

Selected American exports to Romania in 2007 with the highest percentage sales decreases from 2006 are listed below.

1. Meat and poultry … US$198,000 (down 99.6% from 2006)
2. Jewellery … $188,000 (down 98.8%)
3. Antiques, artwork, stamps … $680,000 (down 94.6%)
4. Automotive engines and parts … $658,000 (down 77.9%)
5. Civilian aircraft engines … $1.9 million (down 52.4%).

Sources for this Article

This article presents independent calculations and insights based on data drawn from the CIA World Factbook and the U.S. Census Bureau – Foreign Trade Statistics.

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