Zimbabwe fuel imports increases by 24,8 percent

A trade report by ZimTrade released during the annual exporters' conference in Harare this week indicated that Zimbabwe's petroleum imports were 24,8 percent higher during the first nine months of 2011 compared to shipments during the full-year to December 2010.

ZimTrade said that Zimbabwe had witnessed an increased demand for fuels due to use of generator power to plug shortfalls created by electricity blackouts from the national grid.

A sharp rise in volume of petroleum imports was also the result of better capacity by fuel importers after the industry was opened up to efficient private players in 2010 to compete with a troubled government-controlled agency.

The country has experienced a rise in cheap, used vehicle imports from Japan.

ZimTrade said Zimbabwe's major imports during the period under review were fertilisers, which constituted 18,5 percent of the imports, petroleum products at 13,7 percent, motor vehicles 12 percent, phone sets 5,3 percent, wheat 1,8 percent, sunflower seed 1,5 percent, maize 1,2 percent and pharmaceuticals 1,2 percent.

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