Georgia's own exports hit a record in the first four months — and a new refinery, not cars, did it

Total exports for the four months were 2.4 billion dollars, up 21.1%. The striking figure is underneath that: locally produced goods made up 63.6% of the total, the highest share recorded for this period. Georgia has spent years running a trade account in which a large slice was foreign cars passing through on their way somewhere else. That slice shrank by 217 million dollars, and domestic production more than filled the gap.

Oil and petroleum products went from a minor line to 324.1 million dollars, attributed to the start of operations at Black Sea Petroleum, described as Georgia's first full-scale oil refinery; petroleum products accounted for roughly a fifth of all local exports in the period. Precious metal ores and concentrates reached 225.1 million, up 134%. Ferroalloys were 94.6 million, up 92%. Copper ores and concentrates 80.1 million, up 119%. Hazelnuts and other nuts rose 58% to 59.7 million. Wine was essentially flat: natural grape wines 73.5 million, up 2%, with all alcoholic beverages at 75.9 million, down 1%.

China was the largest single destination for Georgian exports over the four months, with China, Russia and Turkey the top three for locally produced goods. The top ten partners together took 69% of local exports, which is the number worth holding on to: a trade base that has broadened in what it sells is still narrow in who it sells to, and the composition of that top three carries its own political weather.

For anyone with money in Georgian property or a tourism business, exports are not a side topic. They feed the current account, and the current account feeds the lari, which in turn sets what a foreign-currency mortgage really costs and what a holiday here prices at for a visitor. A shift from re-export trade towards goods actually made in the country is, in principle, a steadier base. It is also now a base with a large single commodity in it, which cuts both ways when oil prices move.