Drop in imports highlights Cuban economic crisis

Cuba’s sea-borne imports dropped by nearly two-thirds in the first half of this year compared to the same period in 2008, official data showed, highlighting the depths of the island’s economic crisis.

Yet the value of Cuba’s U.S. imports for the same period dropped only 15 percent, underscoring the U.S. producers’ advantages because of the short distance between the countries, trade experts said.

A cargo transportation report issued last month by Cuba’s Office for National Statistics shows that imports by sea dropped from 4,626,000 metric tons to 2,309,000 mt from the first half of 2008 to the same period this year. Exports also dropped, from 307,000 to 203,000 MT.

“The numbers show the real contraction of the Cuban economy because they reflect not the value but the volume,” said Jorge Piñon, a fellow at the University of Miami’s Center for Hemispheric Policy who monitors the island’s economy.

The Cuban government has been reported to be planning to cut its 2009 imports by at least 30 percent because of its economic crisis.

Raúl Castro’s government is currently facing the worst economic crisis since the Soviet Union collapsed in the early 1990s. Three hurricanes last year caused $10 billion in damages, the world economic slowdown sparked a cut in the price and volume of Cuba’s main export, nickel, as well as an estimated $1 billion drop in foreign lending to the island.

Cuba’s imports from U.S. producers have held up far better than imports from other countries, however, according to U.S. government figures gathered by the New York-based U.S.-Cuba Trade and Economic Council (USCTEC).

The value of U.S. food and agricultural exports to the island dropped from $355.6 million for the first six months of 2008 to $301.8 million for the same period in 2009 — a 15 percent drop — according to the USCTEC figures.