North exports down to £2.24bn
Jun 16 2009 by Iain Laing, The Journal
THE value of goods exported from the North East has fallen by 10% during the first quarter of 2009, the latest figures show.
Just under £2.24bn of goods were exported from the region during the period, compared to £2.5bn in the previous quarter up to the end of December 2008, according to HM Revenue and Customs.
The total value of exported goods in the 12 months up to the end of March 2009 was just over 5% higher than the previous 12 months - £10.8bn compared to £10.2bn a year earlier. The figure for the UK overall was a growth rate of over 7%.
The key sectors for exports in the North East were road vehicles, medicinal and pharmaceutical products, petroleum, petroleum products and related materials, organic chemicals and power-generating machinery.
While road vehicles and organic chemicals were among the areas which registered falls in export values, there were large increases in medicinal and pharmaceutical products, up almost 27%, and petroleum, products and related areas, which almost doubled with an increase of nearly 98%.
The US remains the single largest destination by value for North East goods at £1.97bn and this grew by more than 30% in the last year.
UK Trade & Investment’s international trade director, David Coppock, said things could get worse.
He said: “The figures have clearly shown a fall in the value of exports from the North East, which peaked at the end of the third quarter of 2008. In the current economic climate this was not unexpected and there may well be further losses to come.
“But there is optimism the economic situation is improving and we are keen to encourage companies in the region to ready themselves to take advantage of the opportunities that will arise when the economy picks up.”
Dr Simon Goon, head of business investment at regional development agency One North East, said: “North East export performance has been excellent in recent years but it was inevitable the global economic downturn would eventually impact on overseas trade.”
