Scottish manufacturing exports continue slide

SCOTLAND'S manufactured exports are continuing to fall, official statistics showed today.

The drop of 3.4% in export sales in the first quarter of this year was an improvement on the 9.6% fall witnessed in the previous three months.
But it is the third successive quarter of decline, with sales over the year to the end of March down by 6.5%.

Most industries felt the plunge, but the biggest declines were in textiles, fur and leather, down 12.7%, as well as wood, paper, publishing & printing which was down 7%, while other manufacturing dropped 10.1%.

Finance Secretary John Swinney said the figures show the impact of the global downturn on exports.

He said: "With our key export markets suffering, the obvious result is a weakening in demand for Scottish products.

"But the decline in Scottish exports, while disappointing, mirrors global trends and has eased somewhat since the last statistics were published in April.

"Nevertheless today's figures emphasise the importance of Scottish Government activity to position Scotland's economy for recovery."

Over the year to the end of March, export sales fell by 7.5% in engineering & allied industries, food, drink & tobacco dropped 6.2%, metals and metal products were down 12.3%, while textiles, fur and leather fell by 12.5%.

CBI Scotland's assistant director, David Lonsdale, said today's results were in line with its own industrial survey for the first three months of the year.

"Key overseas markets are in a rut at the moment which limits their appetite to buy from us," he said.

"The benefits of a weaker pound appear to have been fairly muted so far for Scottish-based exporters.

"However, if sterling were to remain weaker then exporters could well begin to feel the benefits in due course."

Key export markets for Scottish firms have been hit by the worldwide downturn.

The biggest consumer of Scottish exports – the USA – saw GDP decline by 1.5% in the first quarter of 2009 compared to the previous quarter.