Exports to Europe surge 35% in mid-year figures

Write a Comment

By Darren Fishell

Maine exports to Europe during the first half of this year surged nearly 35% over the first half of 2012, driven largely by sales of aviation equipment, liquid pumps and wood and pulp products to Germany, Austria and Italy.

The latest figures come as Maine's exports to all countries dropped nearly 7.5% during the same period, from January to May. Maine International Trade Center President Janine Bisaillon-Cary says the drop is the result of changes in the shipping routes of semiconductors produced in Maine and not a reflection of a decrease in production here.

According to Bisaillon-Cary, the Maine export boom to Europe is partly due to Germany and Austria weathering the global recession well, keeping import markets there strong. But the surge in Maine exports to Austria early this year came as a surprise.

"It's more than the strength of a country itself but the strength of a certain product that's driving (exports to Austria) up," says Bisaillon-Cary, who attributes sales of pump parts for the spike. Overall, exports to Austria grew by nearly $7 million over last year's figures; about $6.7 million of that increase is due to a boom in liquid pump exports.

Italy, which has not fared as well through the recession, also experienced surprising increases, Bisaillon-Cary says.

There, the strongest Maine exports have been pulp and wood products, aircraft parts, frozen lobsters and biotech reagents.

The increases in aircraft parts to both Italy and Germany, Bisaillon-Cary says, come largely from products coming out of Pratt & Whitney's North Berwick plant.

Two other European nations — the Netherlands and Belgium — had modest increases in Maine exports for the first half of this year, while trade between Maine and other European countries remained relatively static.

Maine's top export market, Canada, is also receiving more products from the Pine Tree State, by dollar value. The nearly 8% increase in exports to Canada brings Maine's half-year export total to around $557 million, up from $508 million for the same period last year.

It's in Maine's second-largest export market — Malaysia — that the impact of shipping-route changes for Maine-made semiconductors shows up. Six-month trade figures to that country dropped nearly 80%, from $204 million in 2012 to $43 million for the same period this year.

Bisaillon-Cary says production of semiconductors in Maine remains steady but the routing changes mean fewer of those products are counted as exports from Maine.

Overall, Bisaillon-Cary says demand for manufactured goods remains high abroad while exports of luxury items are still recovering from the recession.