15 Feb 2016
China: January export data reversed all the optimism - Rabobank
Michael Every, Head of Financial Markets Research at Rabobank, suggests that China's January export data reversed all the optimism centred around the December report.
Key Quotes
“January exports plunged 11.2% y-o-y against expectations of just -1.8%, while imports plunged 18.8%. Even if one averages the December and January export numbers it still shows that there has been no turn-around in shipments from the slump seen in late 2015.
That strongly reiterates the weakness of China's domestic demand beyond the fall in commodity prices, the equally weak global demand backdrop, and that even though China ran another record huge trade surplus of USD63.3bn in the month is still saw FX reserves plunge by around USD100bn.”
Key Quotes
“January exports plunged 11.2% y-o-y against expectations of just -1.8%, while imports plunged 18.8%. Even if one averages the December and January export numbers it still shows that there has been no turn-around in shipments from the slump seen in late 2015.
That strongly reiterates the weakness of China's domestic demand beyond the fall in commodity prices, the equally weak global demand backdrop, and that even though China ran another record huge trade surplus of USD63.3bn in the month is still saw FX reserves plunge by around USD100bn.”