Footwear -6.5% sag leads free zones stumble

Santo Domingo.- Free zone activity stumbled -1.1% in the first half of the year, after the value of their exported products decreased -0.2%, to close at US$3.1 billion.

“The result contrasts with the jump this sector took last year. In the first half of 2018, free zones had grown 10.4%,” the Central Bank said on its website.

“The highest incidence of the fall registered in the first half of the year has focused on sectors that are quite representative of the activity, such as textiles, footwear and pharmaceutical and medical equipment, which account for half of the exports from free zones.”

In the case of footwear, the report said the drop in shipments abroad was -6.5%, from US$174.4 million in the first half of 2018 to US$163 million in the first half of 2019.

“Meanwhile, shipments of medical equipment fell -2.4% in one year, from US$749.3 million to 731.3 million between 2018 and 2019, while shipments of textile apparel abroad fell -0.8%, from about US$530.9 million in the first half of last year to US$526.7 million in the same period this year.