Cameroon’s Top 5 Exports

Cameroon’s top exports are crude oil, wood, and agricultural products are grown on plantations and small-scale farms. Food and commodities are transported by road to their neighbours, but top export destinations include France, China, Italy, Belgium-Luxembourg, and the Netherlands.

Crude oil makes up 31 per cent of Cameroon’s exports, with over 60 per cent going to European countries. Thirty per cent of Cameroon’s crude oil is exported to China and India, with 4 per cent going to South Africa. In 2017 Cameroon sold $1.34 billion worth of crude petroleum. The discovery of liquefied natural gas has boosted exports going to Asia.

Over 40 per cent of Cameroon’s land is covered by forests where high-quality African teak, Bubinga, Doussie, Bilinga, Iroko, Ebony, Sapele, and several other kinds of wood are harvested.  Sawn lumber makes up 14 per cent of exports and reaches fifty countries on four continents. A quarter of Cameroon’s sawn lumber is exported to Belgium and Luxembourg. This sector earned the country over half a billion dollars in 2017, with rough wood and related wood products earning a further $ 200 million.

Cameroon is the fifth biggest producer of cocoa in the world. The Netherlands buys 50 per cent of Cameroon’s cocoa, which is also exported to Germany, Spain, Belgium, France, Malaysia, Singapore, Turkey, and several other countries. Cocoa beans made up 12 per cent of Cameroonian exports and earned the country $492 million in 2017. However, production has been hampered by conflict in the Southwest of Cameroon, which is the top cocoa-producing region.

Bananas grown in Cameroon are exported to Europe mainly by Cameroon’s second-biggest employer, the Cameroon Development Corporation which runs most of the country’s plantations. Banana exports make up just over 7 per cent of Cameroon’s exports.

Asian garment makers are the primary buyers of Cameroonian cotton grown on a large scale in the north of the country and exported by Cameroonian parastatal Sodecoton, which buys from local farmers. Raw cotton makes up 4 per cent of exports to Bangladesh, India, Turkey, China, and other markets in Asia.

It’s important to know the top exports in a country, to know where the best supply of desired products is. On Export Portal’s comprehensive international trade hub, we make it easy for sellers of these top products can connect with interested buyers all over the world, thus growing business for both parties.

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