August exports show 4% decline to €7.6bn

EXPORTS FELL in August, declining 4 per cent on a seasonally adjusted basis from a month earlier.

Exports for the month were €7.6 billion, compared with €7.9 billion in July. However, analysts said the figures were still strong, coming after July’s near-record performance. Compared to a year earlier, exports were 14 per cent higher.

“Coming after the huge 29 per cent gain in the trade surplus from June to July, the fall in August is no great surprise,” Davy analyst Aidan Corcoran said.

Imports increased by 3 per cent in the same period, rising to €3.84 billion, lowering the trade surplus by 9 per cent to €3.8 billion.

Merchandise exports were 4 per cent higher in the second quarter compared to the preceding three-month period.

“Reflecting the weak state of domestic demand, imports are likely to contract in Q3 pushing Ireland closer to a balance of payments surplus as early as this year,” said National Irish Bank’s chief economist Dr Ronnie O’Toole.

There was also some good news for the high-tech sector, with pharmaceuticals and chemicals growing 3 per cent on last year.

“A study published by the ECB earlier this week ranked Ireland as being the most high-tech exporting country in the euro zone, far outpacing Austria and Finland in second and third place respectively,” Dr O’Toole said.

Between January and July, exports rose 1 per cent, or €273 million, to €51.45 billion compared to the same period a year earlier.

This was particularly evident in the medical and pharmaceutical products sector, where exports rose by 12 per cent or €1.46 billion. Exports of computer equipment declined by 34 per cent, or €1.3 billion.

Over the seven-month period, exports to the US, Belgium and Britain accounted for 52 per cent of the total value of exports, with the US leading the way.

In the same period, imports fell by 4 per cent €26.3 billion. The value of computer equipment imported fell by 41 per cent or €982 million. Imports of petroleum increased by 29 per cent, while medical and pharmaceutical products rose by 23 per cent. Road vehicles saw a rise of 66 per cent in imports.