Saudi non-petroleum exports increased during March of 2008 by 57 percent as compared to March of 2008 to SR10.947 billion from SR6.974 billion, the Saudi Press Agency said on Monday. According to a report issued by the Department of General Statistic and Information, the petrochemical commodities topped the list of the exports, followed by plastics and ordinary metals and their byproducts, and the re-exported commodities. As for the Kingdom's imports, the total value of the imports in March of 2008 jumped by 34 percent to SR32.600 billion from SR26.243 billion in March of 2007. GCC member states shared a big chunk of the Kingdom's exports followed by Asian and Arab countries. The US stood out the as the biggest importer to the Kingdom last March followed by Japan and Germany. The Kingdom's non-petroleum exports to the GCC member states increased last March by 27 percent to SR2.723 billion from SR2.152 billion in March of 2007. The Kingdom was ranked 10 as the biggest importer of food in 2006 with $8.55b, according to the World Trade Organization (WTO) statistics.
