Chapter 94 items include furniture, lighting signs and prefabricated buildings, among others. PHOTO SUPPLIED
Cambodia earned $369.643 million from the export of “furniture, lighting signs, prefabricated buildings” in the first half (H1) of 2023, down 29.67 per cent from $525.591 million in 2022H1 and down nearly 12.5 per cent from $422.67 million in 2022H2, according to provisional Customs (GDCE) data compiled in “International Merchandise Trade Statistics” bulletins.
This category of items, corresponding to Chapter 94 of the Harmonised System (HS) of Tariff Nomenclature, accounted for 3.22 per cent of the $11.464 billion value of the Kingdom’s total goods exports during 2023H1. The corresponding figures for 2022 were: H1 (4.62%; $11.379B) and H2 (3.81%; $11.104B).
In June alone, the Kingdom exported $134.951 million worth of Chapter 94 items, down 23.93 per cent year-on-year from $177.406 million, up 203.3 per cent half-on-half from $44.491 million, up 199.1 per cent quarter-on-quarter from $45.124 million, and up 91.20 per cent month-on-month from $70.581 million.
This monthly figure was down 26.76 per cent from July 2022’s $184.253 million, the highest number on record for 2015-2023 – the period covered by the GDCE bulletins. The next highest values on record for the aforementioned timeframe are $177.406 million (June 2022), $163.890 million (August 2021), $150.171 million (July 2021), and $126.808 million (July 2020).
In an interview with The Post on July 24, Royal Academy of Cambodia economist Hong Vanak remarked that political and economic crises across the world in recent years have led to considerable drops in some of the Kingdom’s import and export categories, with noteworthy exceptions for foodstuffs and other necessities.
He attributed the reduction in Chapter 94 exports to general declines in demand in destination markets, which, he insisted, do not indicate that there are serious quality issues with Cambodian goods or a significant movement in purchase orders away from the Kingdom.
“The situation of the world market is as thus. Demand for the aforementioned products will recover as the rate of global economic growth picks up,” he said.
Citing statements from the Council for the Development of Cambodia, Vanak pointed out that the number of companies investing in Cambodia is steadily increasing, and suggested that the Kingdom’s exports will swell as the global economy recovers.
He also suggested that tourism recovery could fuel overseas shipments of Chapter 94 merchandise.
Cambodia Chamber of Commerce director-general Nguon Meng Tech commented that the Kingdom draws investors into all sectors, in part thanks to its broad overseas base of customers and favourable geographical location and investment laws.
The Kingdom’s more recent investment projects have been more varied than in the past and have called for more sophisticated technologies and skilled labour, he said.
“Orders will increase in line with the resurgence in demand for these goods as the global economy improves,” Meng Tech added.
According to the GDCE, Cambodia in 2022 exported “furniture, lighting signs, prefabricated buildings” to the tune of $948.258 million – up 8.7 per cent from $872.563 million in 2021 and up 39.7-fold from $23.877 million in 2015 – making up 4.218 per cent of the $22.483 billion registered in total outbound merchandise trade.
Although the GDCE bulletins did not provide figures by importing market, statistics from online platform Trading Economics indicate that the US bought $832.76 million or 95.44 per cent of the $872.56 million worth of Cambodian Chapter 94 exports reported for 2021.
For reference, the full title of Chapter 94 is “furniture; bedding, mattresses, mattress supports, cushions and similar stuffed furnishings; lamps and lighting fittings, not elsewhere specified or included; illuminated signs, illuminated name-plates and the like; prefabricated buildings”.
