Exports of automotive parts in January up 17% YoY

  • Lusa
  • 14 March 2023

Spain remains the main customer of components manufactured in Portugal, with sales totalling €306 million in January, up 8.4% from January 2022.

Exports of automotive components in January were up 16.6% on the same month in 2022, to €1.0 billion, the AFIA – Association of Manufacturers for the Automotive Industry, announced on Monday.

In a statement, the association noted that the year-on-year increase in exports in January of this year is ninth consecutive one.

With regard to exports of automotive components by country, Spain remains the main customer of components manufactured in Portugal, with sales totalling €306 million in January, up 8.4% from January 2022.

In second place in the ranking is Germany with €208 million and in third place France, with €118 million, followed by Slovakia with €43 million and the US with €37 million.

“These five countries represent 72% of Portuguese exports of automotive components,” explains the AFIA, adding that exports to almost all these top customers were up on the year, with the exception of the US, exports to which were down 13.4%.

“Portuguese companies have been forced to constantly manage all the uncertainty experienced in global terms, whether in relation to the difficult geopolitical situation determined by the war in Ukraine or the tension between the US and China,” the association notes. “Another constraining factor … is the continuous shortage of semiconductors, as well as cost inflation related to transport, energy and raw materials, which force the interruption of supply chains.”

According to the group, “the Portuguese automotive components industry has managed to offer solutions to shape the mobility of the future – intelligent and with low carbon emissions.”

However, it added, it “remains concerned about the future capacity of national companies to maintain this resilience and be able to continue to compete with their counterparts” – maintaining their profile with customers and gaining market share.