The Fuel Bill, Gold's Rotating Buyers, and the Haiti Border: Dominican Trade in August 2026

Bottom line: Dominican imports in August 2026 were 16.2% higher than a year earlier, and most of that gap is fuel: refined fuels reached their highest monthly value since January 2024, mainly because each tonne cost about half again as much as a year ago. On the export side, the swing to Canada is a gold story, and sales to Haiti kept growing over land.

Desk: Claudio, Dominican Republic. Dataset: Dominican Republic customs (DGA) declarations, imports (CIF) and exports (FOB), US$. Period: August 2026, compared with July 2026, August 2025, and January to August of both years. Vintage: data updated 12 October 2026 (about a six-week lag). Coverage: all customs regimes, national and free zone; declared net weights are unreliable for some products (gold in particular).

Key findings

• Imports rose 16.2% from a year earlier to US$3.00 billion in August 2026 (US$2.58 billion in August 2025), and fell 4.4% from July (US$3.14 billion). Mineral fuels (HS 27) accounted for US$638.1 million, up 73.4% from US$368.1 million in August 2025; imports excluding fuels rose a modest 6.7%.
• Refined fuels (HS 2710) reached US$420.5 million, the highest monthly value since January 2024 (the start of our data) and a third consecutive monthly increase, from US$362.8 million in May. Against August 2025, value rose 136.4% while weight rose 60.0%, so the value per tonne rose about 48%, from roughly US$730 to US$1,078.
• Exports rose 4.7% from a year earlier to US$1.24 billion and fell 7.0% from July. The trade deficit widened to US$1.76 billion from US$1.40 billion in August 2025, and narrowed slightly from US$1.80 billion in July.
• Canada took 13.9% of exports (US$172.3 million), up from US$6.1 million in July. Gold accounted for US$165.3 million of it. Canada has received gold in every month of 2026 except July, when Switzerland took it instead. Gold exports overall fell 15.5% from August 2025 to US$187.4 million, at a gold price about 31% higher.
• Exports to Haiti rose 14.3% from a year earlier to US$105.6 million, with about nine of every ten dollars crossing at three land border posts. January to August, they rose 20.9% to US$808.1 million.

The numbers

January to August 2026, imports rose 8.6% to US$23.05 billion (US$21.22 billion a year earlier) and exports rose 12.5% to US$10.23 billion (US$9.10 billion), so the eight-month deficit widened by US$702 million to US$12.83 billion.

Why did the Dominican fuel bill reach a series high in August 2026?

Refined fuels, mostly gasoline and diesel under HS 2710, are the largest single import line for the Dominican Republic. In 2025 the country typically spent US$180 million to US$290 million a month on them. The country imports all the fuel it consumes, as President Luis Abinader said in March (Acento).

2026 was not a typical year. Monthly spending on refined fuels moved into a higher range from March:

• January and February 2026: US$225.1 million and US$202.1 million
• March: US$341.0 million
• April: US$374.2 million
• May: US$362.8 million
• June: US$390.4 million
• July: US$403.0 million
• August: US$420.5 million, 14.0% of all imports

This is mainly a price story, with some volume. In August, 390,000 tonnes arrived, up 60.0% from 243,700 tonnes in August 2025, but August 2025 was a light month. Over June to August, weight rose 23.5% from a year earlier while value rose 81.7%. The value per tonne jumped from about US$714 in February to US$902 in March and peaked near US$1,264 in May, then held between about US$1,034 and US$1,078 in June to August. World Bank prices show Brent crude averaging US$103.7 a barrel in March and US$120.4 in April 2026, against US$71.1 in February, and US$90.9 in August against US$68.2 in August 2025.

The timing matches the oil shock from the war involving Iran. Dominican press tied the March price jump to the conflict and the Strait of Hormuz, and El Día reported that the government expected to spend about RD$1.2 billion on fuel subsidies in a single week, against a budget built on oil at US$52 a barrel (El Día). Acento reported that the 2026 energy bill was expected to close near US$5.4 billion, about US$900 million above the government's budget (Acento). By June, elDinero described a truce, a possible U.S.-Iran peace agreement, and the reopening of Hormuz, alongside a three-month freeze in local fuel prices (elDinero). In July, elCaribe noted that for an energy-importing economy "the transmission is direct" (elCaribe).

The physical route is concentrated: of US$508.8 million in crude and refined fuel imports in August, US$412.4 million (81%) cleared at Haina Oriental. The United States supplied US$287.6 million of refined fuels (68.4%), up from US$150.9 million a year earlier, though its share fell from 84.8% as Latvia (US$35.1 million) and Finland (US$28.9 million) appeared as suppliers; neither recorded refined fuels in August 2025. Revista Mercado, measuring a wider basket of hydrocarbons, reported that the United States supplied 88.92% of Dominican hydrocarbon import value in the second quarter of 2026, up from 78.21% a year earlier (Revista Mercado); August's refined-fuel mix was more diversified.

The nuance: the value per tonne of refined fuels rose more (about 47% over June to August) than Brent crude (about 23%), which suggests refined product prices rose faster than crude, but the data cannot confirm which products drove it. Crude petroleum (HS 2709) more than doubled from July to US$88.2 million, but that reflects cargo timing: July carried about 63,500 tonnes and August 132,000 tonnes, a pattern of one or two cargoes a month seen since mid-2025.

What the data shows: The fuel bill rose because prices rose, and volumes rose somewhat as well. Even after crude prices eased from their April peak, August refined-fuel spending was the highest in our data. Whether September's higher oil prices (Brent averaged US$116.8, World Bank) push it further will show in the next release.

Why did Dominican exports turn toward Canada in August 2026?

Gold (HS 7108) is the Dominican Republic's largest single export, shipped as unrefined bullion to foreign refiners. It is the main reason exports outside the free zones grew faster this year. elDinero, citing ProDominicana, reported that national-regime exports rose 23.8% in January to August 2026 (elDinero). In our data, national-regime exports rose 26.1% to US$4.30 billion, and gold exports rose 45.8% to US$2.07 billion over the same eight months.

The Canada swing in August is gold changing destination. Of US$172.3 million in exports to Canada, US$165.3 million was gold. Gold buyers rotate:

• January 2026: India US$105.7 million, Canada US$67.3 million, Switzerland US$58.5 million
• February to May: Canada received US$155.2 million to US$218.5 million a month; India between US$30.8 million and US$76.6 million
• June: Canada US$257.2 million, Switzerland US$74.9 million
• July: Switzerland US$187.3 million, Canada none
• August: Canada US$165.3 million, Switzerland none

India, the main gold buyer in much of 2025, has received no Dominican gold in June, July or August 2026 (its last purchase was US$59.2 million in May). January to August, total exports to Canada rose to US$1.28 billion from US$398.3 million, consistent with the US$1.28 billion ProDominicana reported (elDinero). The data shows where the gold went, not why the buyers changed.

The nuance runs the other way for August itself. Gold exports of US$187.4 million were the lowest monthly value since April 2025 (US$113.8 million), down 15.5% from August 2025, while the World Bank gold price averaged US$4,411 an ounce, up 31.0% from US$3,368. A lower dollar value at a higher price implies fewer ounces shipped, but declared gold weights are too inconsistent to measure it. Barrick reported a faster-than-expected recovery at its Pueblo Viejo mine after planned first-quarter maintenance (BNN Bloomberg, Barrick release); that covers the second quarter, not August.

Excluding gold, exports rose 9.4% from a year earlier to US$1,055.2 million. Free-zone exports, 62.2% of the total, rose 8.2% to US$773.5 million, led by medical instruments (US$162.1 million, up 5.6%), cigars and cigarettes (US$103.6 million, up 15.2%), and electrical switching gear (US$93.7 million, up 14.2%).

What the data shows: August's Canada swing is a change of gold buyer, not a new trade relationship. The bigger question is the lower gold value in a high-price month, which one month cannot settle.

Are Dominican sales to Haiti still growing?

Haiti was the Dominican Republic's third-largest export market in August 2026 (8.5% of exports), behind the United States and Canada. In 2025, monthly exports to Haiti ran between US$73.1 million and US$96.5 million. In 2026 every month has been above US$89 million, with US$110.0 million in March.

August exports to Haiti were US$105.6 million, up 14.3% from US$92.4 million a year earlier and down 3.0% from July. Weight rose faster than value, to 145,900 tonnes from 117,500 tonnes (up 24.2%). January to August, exports to Haiti rose 20.9% to US$808.1 million from US$668.2 million.

The trade is overland and national: US$95.8 million (about 91%) cleared at Elías Piña (US$37.3 million), Dajabón (US$29.9 million), and Jimaní (US$28.6 million). The largest products were construction materials and food staples: steel reinforcing bars (US$14.0 million, from US$9.7 million), cement (US$8.9 million, from US$4.9 million), plastic containers, hydration drinks, and wheat flour. Customs data reported by elDinero shows the same mix, with iron bars, hydraulic cement, and wheat flour leading national-regime exports to Haiti in January to June (elDinero). The DGA's own count for January to August, reported by Revista Mercado, was US$921.48 million, up 19.41%, with national-regime operations up 36.06% (Revista Mercado).

Free-zone exports to Haiti moved the other way, falling to US$11.0 million from US$20.5 million in August 2025, with knitted T-shirts down to US$2.9 million from US$8.9 million.

Imports from Haiti remain small. Goods shipped from Haiti in August were worth US$1.08 million, but US$0.87 million of that was declared as Dominican in origin, a free-zone round trip. Goods of Haitian origin were about US$0.08 million.

What the data shows: Dominican sales to Haiti are growing steadily in construction materials and food, overland, while the free-zone apparel trade across the border shrinks. The data shows the flows, not the motives.

Verification notes

• Crude petroleum (HS 2709) rose 117.4% from July, reflecting one versus two cargoes, not a trend.
• Gas turbines (HS 8411, US$4.1 million to US$13.6 million) and boiler auxiliary plant (HS 8404, US$0.2 million to US$7.1 million) look like single-project imports.
• Exports to Switzerland over June to August (US$264.7 million against US$1.3 million a year earlier) and orthopaedic appliances (HS 9021, up 738.8% over three months) are small-baseline or routing jumps.
• Paper machinery exports (HS 8441, US$12,000 to US$1.7 million) and cane sugar (HS 1701, down 92.2% from July) are lumpy shipments.
• Our exports to Haiti (US$808.1 million January to August) sit below the DGA's published US$921.48 million for the same period (a different count of the same flow); growth rates are similar (20.9% against 19.41%). Declared gold weights swing widely from month to month and are not used.

What to watch

• September 2026 data (due about mid-November): whether refined-fuel spending rises with Brent's September average of US$116.8.
• Whether gold goes to Canada or Switzerland in September, and whether India returns.
• The end of the three-month fuel price freeze announced in June, and subsidy costs.
• Exports to Haiti through the land border posts in the last quarter of 2026.

Methodology and data notes

Figures come from CargoFax's processing of Dominican customs (DGA) declarations: imports at CIF value, exports at FOB value, in U.S. dollars, matching the CargoFax monthly report for August 2026. Partner is the declared destination for exports and the origin country for imports; Haiti-related imports were checked by both origin and shipping country to separate free-zone round trips. Free-zone and national figures use the export regime field. Product codes are Dominican tariff headings at HS 4 digits; the code field was cast through an integer type and zero-padded to keep leading zeros. Fuel weights are declared net weights in tonnes; value per tonne is value divided by weight. Year-to-date covers January to August of each year. No importer or exporter names from customs records are used.

Sources

Every link on this page passed the verification gate (live article, date in window, quote found, archived). Tier 1: Bloomberg, WSJ, Reuters, FT. Tier 2: other highly relevant sources (trade press, government, company releases, local press).

Tier 1

No Tier 1 source on this page.

Tier 2

• Tier 2 Acento. En 10 frases: Cómo el Gobierno dominicano ajusta combustibles y refuerza subsidios ante el shock petrolero por la guerra contra Irán. 2026-03-22 archive
• Tier 2 El Día. Subsidio a combustibles esta semana se proyecta en RD$1,200 millones. 2026-03-11 archive
• Tier 2 Acento. El costo de una guerra que no es nuestra: cómo el conflicto Irán-Israel le quita US$ 900 millones al bolsillo dominicano. 2026-05-26 archive
• Tier 2 Periódico elDinero. Tregua petrolera pone a prueba la política de combustibles en RD. 2026-06-18 archive
• Tier 2 Periódico elCaribe. La guerra en Medio Oriente tiene una onda expansiva sobre la economía dominicana. 2026-07-28 archive
• Tier 2 Mercado Media Network. EE. UU. abastece más del 50% del diésel de cuatro países y concentra el 89 % de la factura de hidrocarburos de RD ¿Y si Trump cambia las reglas?. 2026-10-09 archive
• Tier 2 Periódico elDinero. Exportaciones dominicanas totalizan US$10,563.2 millones en enero-agosto de 2026. 2026-09-14 archive
• Tier 2 BNN Bloomberg. Barrick Reports Second Quarter 2026 Results. 2026-08-10 archive
• Tier 2 Periódico elDinero. Exportaciones dominicanas hacia Haití crecen 22.5% en el primer semestre de 2026. 2026-07-17 archive
• Tier 2 Mercado Media Network. Comercio entre RD y Haití: Crecen las exportaciones pero caen las importaciones. 2026-09-22 archive

Data sources

• World Bank Commodity Price Data (Pink Sheet), monthly nominal prices for Brent crude and gold, retrieved 19 October 2026.