Exports and business confidence fly high
By Anatol Steven.
18.10.2011
Latvia achieves new record in export volumes; business confidence indicators are still improving
Trade data for the month of August, released last week, reveal the continuing rise in export volumes to reach a new export volume record, a Bank of Latvia economist writes for the website Macroeconomics.lv.
The export of goods increased 13.4% during the month, while imports fell 1.1%. Figures also show that the exports have climbed 27% over the year.
Exports are growing in almost all of types of products the economist, Daina Pelēce, reports.
“Growth was fastest in the export of agricultural goods (seasonality), textile materials and products, mineral products, metal products and electrical appliances and electronic equipment,” she writes.
In data available on manufacturing, “positive indicators were observed in the production of metal products, electronic equipment, non-metal mineral products, textiles and wood and wood pulp. The positive contribution of these branches dominated the annual growth of goods exports.”
However, a negative trend has been set by a three-month drop in pharmaceuticals exports. Meanwhile, the export structure has become more complicated; new groups of commodities have appeared and smaller ones have expanded.
Other developments include the growing proportion of mineral fertilizers in chemical exports, up from 2.2% in 2010 to 5% so far this year. Among electronic equipment exports, the proportion of telephones, data transmission and reception appliances increased from 5.7% of that group in 2010 to 11% so far in 2011.
Despite global developments, the economist concludes, Latvian business confidence indicators are still improving, in contrast to all other EU countries, both in regard to export order volumes and competitiveness evaluations.
“That is a clear sign that the exporters are ready to maintain their existing markets even under the conditions of growing competitiveness,” she says.
[photo courtesy TAVA]
