Spain risks 2,000 million a year in exports to Algeria and the continuity of gas supply

• Algeria "immediately" suspends the friendship treaty with Spain after Sánchez reaffirms his lurch on the Sahara

The conflict between

which this Wednesday announced the

and today has ordered its banking services to interrupt any transaction related to foreign trade between the two states, puts around

at stake for companies that regularly export to the African country and the continuity of

for our energy companies.

According to data from the Tax Agency collected by

, the value of

from Spain to Algeria in 2021 amounted to an average of

, which makes an annual sum of

The definitive data for sales to Algeria in 2021 is unknown, but in 2020 we exported goods worth

If these sales are interrupted now, the companies most affected will be the main sellers to Algeria that are dedicated to

(they account for 8% of total exports, 160 million euros in 2020);

manufacturers of

(also 8%, 156 million);

the

(7%, 128 million);

suppliers of

(6%, 108 million);

(6%, 106 million);

materials

(5%, 101 million) and

(5%, 97 million).

More residual, although also important, is the sale of

(4%, 73 million euros);

(3%, 66 million) and other

(3%, 65 million).

"

. According to data from the AEAT of Spain, Spanish

to Algeria in 2020 accounted for

, ranking as our

and our second African customer after Morocco", explains ICEX in its report on bilateral relations.

The interruption of purchases by Algeria of these Spanish products will affect our external demand, although not excessively, since they only represent 0.7% of our total exports, but

for which Algerian sales account for a significant market share.

Close the gas tap

The impact on our country could also be felt through

, in fact Spain has traditionally maintained a

, by buying much more from it than we sell to it, energy being what has always interested us the most in the country African.

"

, which buys approximately

from Algeria (latest data available from January - August 2021). In terms of the trade balance, this makes Spanish imports from Algeria exceed exports to the North African country", explains ICEX.

Even so, purchases from Algeria represent only

and that country is ranked 25th in the world ranking.

On the African continent, it is our third supplier, after Morocco and Nigeria.

In

, between January and August, the average value of imports

amounted to

, leaving

In 2020, the volume of imports from that country was 2,511 million euros, much lower than that registered in 2019 -3,852 million- and that of 2018 -4,666 million-.

The main product that makes up our import basket is fuel and lubricants, specifically

, which represent

for a value of

.

They are followed, with a proportion of 3%, by fertilizers and inorganic chemical products and, far behind, with purchase volumes of less than 12 million euros per year, seeds, fish, crustaceans, molluscs, glass, sugar, fruit and copper.

Now, despite the good trade relations that have traditionally existed with that country,

has apparently strengthened bilateral relations with Morocco, but at the cost of spoiling those we had with Algeria.

Spain is

to whom we export some 760 million euros per month, some 9,000 million euros per year, and from which we import 620 million per month, some 7,500 million per year.

Algeria

has decided to suspend the

that it had with Spain for two decades and seems ready to end commercial relations, which in practice means that they could stop selling us gas (instead, they will sell it to

who has already positioned themselves to be their

) and they won't buy the products from us that they used to buy from us.

The most affected Spanish companies in the energy sector will be

but having signed long-term purchase contracts with that country, they trust that at least those contracts -which in many cases are for ten years- will be fulfilled.

"I think, and I don't know if I'm confusing my wishes with what is going to be, that

's CEO

,

confided this Thursday during the III International Expansion Forum.

"As I have read in an article,

(Algeria and Morocco) and

", said Bogas, who hopes and wishes that "these tensions drop as soon as possible".

"Hopefully the two countries come to an agreement, iron out their rough edges, because

", he stressed.

The Minister of Ecological Transition,

has affirmed for her part that since they are contractual relations between private companies and that they are valid for at least ten years,

Even so, the Government, aware that the supply of liquefied gas from Algeria is at stake,

such as

(11.4%) and

(6.3%).

It is not by chance, in fact, that both the President of the Government and the King recently welcomed

and

The country must ensure its supply of gas for next winter, although it must also assume that it will have to pay higher prices to obtain it and that will

and will aggravate the

that families and companies are already suffering.

"The radical turnaround in one of the most sensitive issues of our foreign policy has completely altered the geopolitical, strategic and economic scenario of our country. These are some of the consequences that we could expect: that Algeria finally cut off the gas supply to Spain. This would mean that

(...), that Algeria, in the hypothetical case of restoring supply, would charge us

(...) or that our large energy companies,

face serious problems and a harsh "

", as Shakespeare would say", says

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