Minister Michael Ahern welcomes latest trade figures

Minister for Trade and Commerce, Mr. Michael Ahern, T.D., welcomed the latest trade statistics released today (Wednesday 20th Dec 2006) by the CSO. The figures show that exports increased by 7% in October 2006 relative to September 2006, rebounding from a temporary fall during the previous month. When compared with October 2005, the figures show that exports in July 2006 increased by 6%.

Imports showed little change between September and October 2006, but decreased by 2% in September, relative to August 2006. When compared with the previous year (October 2005) imports in October 2006 increased by 8%. However, the Minister said that this was to be expected, given the longer term effect of rising oil prices, which have continued to impact on import values. The Minister noted that, the price of oil on the international market appeared to have stabilised recently and was now falling. “Over the coming months, I would expect the fall in oil prices to be reflected in the value of imports, thus reducing our imports bill,” the Minister said.

Minister Ahern expressed his satisfaction with the overall trend of the figures for the first nine months of 2006. While exports decreased on three occasions during this period (April, June and September) overall, exports are up by 3% over the nine-month period January-September 2006, relative to January-September 2005. “I am pleased with the upward trend in our export position as illustrated by these latest nine month trade figures. We are continuing to make gains on the position of the previous year,” Minister Ahern said. “This is a very good performance by Irish exporters in a difficult trading environment caused by the continuing global economic slowdown and rising oil prices,“ the Minister added.

Elsewhere, the Minister noted that exports for the period January-September, 2006 relative to the same period in 2005, increased by 7% to the United States, by 5% to Germany and by just under 10% to Belgium. “These are important markets for us and it is heartening to see that the export trend in this area is positive,” the Minister said. The Minister noted the sizable increase in the value of exports to Malaysia (up 73%) although other countries in the Asia region showed only minor increases or no change.

The EU continues to increase in importance as an export market, consistently accounting for 62% of all Irish exports. Minister Ahern said he was particularly pleased that, in all almost all cases, exports to the new Member States were increasing, with Poland showing the largest increase at +40%, or up by €77 million in value terms. The Czech and Slovak Republics were the next highest with increases in exports of 38% and 21%, respectively. “This is a very welcome development,” Minister Ahern continued. “There are huge opportunities for Irish exporters in these newly developing markets and while, in some cases, we are starting from a very low base I would expect that over time Irish exporters will establish a substantial presence in the region,” the Minister concluded.

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