Swiss exports rebounded significantly in October driven by the chemicals and pharmaceuticals sector, customs announced on Tuesday, showing an increase of 10.2% compared to the previous month. The Alpine country’s exports totaled nearly 24.4 billion Swiss francs (26 billion euros) in October while imports rose 1.8% to 18.4 billion francs, the EU said. Federal Customs Office in a press release. This rebound in exports increased the trade balance to 5.97 billion Swiss francs (6.38 billion euros) for the past month, compared to 4 billion francs in September.
Exports from the chemicals and pharmaceuticals sector, Switzerland’s leading export sector, increased by 15.6% in October compared to the previous month. The machinery and electronic equipment sector, for its part, recorded a 3.1% rebound in its exports while those of the metals sector increased by 4.8%. In the third quarter, industry slowed Switzerland’s growth, with exporting companies suffering from a drop in demand, particularly from Germany, Switzerland’s largest trading partner in Europe. The difficulties of the German automobile industry are having an impact in particular on companies in the metals sector in Switzerland.
In the third quarter, exports of the metals sector fell by 7.9% compared to the previous quarter while those of machinery and electronic equipment contracted by 1.1%. Last week, the steelmaker Swiss Steel announced the elimination of 800 positions in Switzerland and on its sites abroad, with the aim of reducing its workforce to below 7,000 employees by the end of the first half of 2025. The group based in Lucerne explained this decision by the need to adapt its production capacities to current economic conditions, facing “weak demand in the European manufacturing industry”.
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