Foreign trade of Sudan
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Sudan's exports in 2008 amounted to US$12.4 billion, and its imports totaled US$8.9 billion.[1] Agricultural products dominated Sudanese exports until Sudan began to export petroleum and petroleum products.[1] By 2000 the value of petroleum-based products surpassed the total of all other exports combined.[1] By 2008, they had reached US$11.6 billion and have accounted for 80 to 94 percent of all export revenue since 2000, the result of expanded oil production, as well as higher oil prices.[1] Because oil provides such a large proportion of export earnings, Sudan is now vulnerable to the volatility of the international price of oil.[1]
Sudan had long been the world's second largest exporter of long-staple cotton.[1] Cotton exports provided more than 50 percent of total export revenues in the 1960s but declined to only 1.1 percent of export revenues in 2008.[1] Gum arabic was in second place until the 1960s, but its importance was even less than that of cotton in 2008.[1] Livestock was the most important non-oil product in 2002, displacing cash crops.[1] The government encouraged the increase in livestock production, especially camels, goats, sheep, and cattle, but the export of livestock declined dramatically thereafter, with proceeds providing only 0.3 percent of export revenues in 2008.[1] Sesame increased in importance in the 1990s and displaced cotton as the most important export commodity in 1996, until petroleum exports became dominant.[1] Sesame remained the most important agricultural export product, providing 2.3 percent of export revenues in 2008.[1] Other important exports in 2008 were gold, sugar, and peanuts.[1]
The share of machinery and transport equipment was 32.8 percent of the value of total imports in 2008.[1] Large quantities of capital goods were imported, mainly for the development and expansion of the oil industry and the expansion of related infrastructure.[1] Government plans for self-sufficiency through the development of import-substitution industries achieved only limited success, as manufactured goods still equaled 24.7 percent of the value of imports.[1] Economic growth and the need for a peace dividend following the signing of the January 2005 CPA, led to increased import spending in 2004–6, meaning that there was a trade deficit during those years.[1] The trade balance returned to a surplus in 2007.[1]
In the early Condominium era, Egypt was Sudan's main customer.[1] The development of the Gezira Scheme, however, resulted in large-scale exports of cotton to the United Kingdom, which by the end of the 1920s was purchasing about 80 percent of Sudanese exports.[1] At the time of Sudanese independence, Britain continued to be the largest customer.[1] During the 1960s, India, West Germany, and Italy emerged as major buyers; late in the decade, Japan also became a major customer.[1]
After the 1969 Sudanese coup d'état, Khartoum took steps to expand trade with the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe.[1] Exports to the Soviet Union rose dramatically in 1970 and 1971 as that country became Sudan's leading customer.[1] After the 1971 Sudanese coup d'état, however, relations deteriorated, and Soviet purchases dropped almost to nil.[1]
Saudi Arabia became Sudan's main export market in the late 1980s, buying sorghum and livestock.[1] Britain also remained an important export destination.[1] Other major customers were France and China.[1] The United States, although not one of Sudan's largest purchasers, became a major customer in the later 1980s, mainly buying cotton, gum arabic, and peanuts.[1] Saudi Arabia continued to be the leading export market throughout the second half of the 1990s, purchasing 20 percent of Sudan's exports, especially livestock.[1] However, the development of the oil industry changed the direction of trade, with China and Japan purchasing 63 percent of Sudan's exports in 2001.[1] The trend continued as the oil industry developed further, with East Asia replacing the Middle East as the main export market.[1] In 2007 China absorbed 67.9 percent of Sudan's exports, followed by Japan (19.0 percent), South Korea (2.0) and Saudi Arabia (1.7 percent).[1]
Sudan's imports come from a wide range of countries, led by Saudi Arabia in the late 1980s.[1] In 1989 Saudi Arabia supplied nearly 14.1 percent of Sudan's total imports, with petroleum the chief import item.[1] Britain was Sudan's main import source until 1980; in the late 1980s, it became Khartoum's second largest provider, supplying an estimated 8.3 percent of the country's imports in 1989.[1] Britain had well-established commercial and banking operations in Khartoum and a leading position in exporting manufactured goods, vehicles, tobacco, beverages, chemicals, and machinery to Sudan.[1]
Iraq was a prime source of Sudan's imports through 1978, because it was the principal supplier of crude petroleum, a function that was taken over by Saudi Arabia in 1979 after Iraq cut off oil supplies because Sudan backed Egypt in the Egypt–Israel peace treaty.[1] In the last years of the al-Numayri government (1969–85), bilateral trade with Egypt declined sharply, but in April 1988, and again in June 1991, Sudan and Egypt signed large trade agreements.[1] Improved relations with Libya enabled Tripoli to become Sudan's third largest import supplier in 1989.[1] In January of that year, Sudan and Tripoli signed an agreement for Sudan to buy Libyan crude oil, and in December Sudan agreed to purchase Libyan fuel, chemicals, fertilizer, cement, and caustic soda.[1]
China was the prime import supplier in 2007, having superseded Saudi Arabia in 2004.[1] In 2007 China provided 27.9 percent of Sudan's imports, followed by Saudi Arabia (7.5 percent), India (6.3 percent) and Egypt (5.6 percent).[1] Libya, which previously had supplied most of Sudan's imports, especially petroleum products, saw its exports decline dramatically from 15 percent of Sudan's total imports in 1999, as demand for imported refined products ended.[1]
