Northern California exports outpace Southern California
Sacramento Business Journal - by Kelly Johnson Staff writer
California’s export trade is “peeking around an important corner here, (but is) not fully turning it,” a local international trade adviser reported Tuesday after analyzing the latest trade data.
The value of the Golden State’s exports in November declined slightly from a month earlier, but November’s total ended a streak — barely — that since October 2008 had seen monthly totals fall below that of the same time a year earlier. That’s according to Jock O’Connell, international trade and economics adviser at the University of California Center Sacramento. In a news release Tuesday, he provided an analysis of California global trade results based on data released by the U.S. Department of Commerce.
California shipped abroad in November some $10.95 billion in goods, a decrease of 1.2 percent from a month earlier but still more than the $10.75 billion shipped in November 2008, O’Connell reported. Even considering inflation, that’s a gain.
California’s exports of manufactured goods fell by 2.1 percent from November 2008. However, exports of agricultural goods and other non-manufactured products increased by 29.8 percent over the same period. Re-exports of goods previously imported into the state, meanwhile, showed no real gain, O’Connell said.
Data continues to indicate that Northern California’s export trade is recovering more briskly than Southern California’s, he said.
Loaded containers sailing from the Port of Oakland saw a gain of 39.7 percent over November 2008. The number of loaded shipping containers leaving the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach grew by 11.4 percent.
Likewise, export tonnage in November increased by 11.7 percent at San Francisco International, and only 4.6 percent at Los Angeles International, O’Connell said. The two airports are California’s primary international trade gateway airports, accounting for about half of the state’s overall export trade.
O’Connell also noted that the value of U.S. exports shipped through the San Francisco Customs District in November rose 14.1 percent from a year earlier. In contrast, exports shipped through the Los Angeles Customs District in November fell by 1.1 percent, and the San Diego Customs District was down by 3.2 percent.
California’s exports between January and November totaled $108.5 billion, a decline of 19.3 percent compared to the first eleven months of 2008, when the state’s exports tallied $134.4 billion, O’Connell said in the release.
As for imports, the decline continued in November. Some $25.1 billion in foreign goods entered the United States through the Golden State in November, posting a 8.2 percent decline from the $27.4 billion in November 2008.
All contents of this site © American City Business Journals Inc. All rights reserved.
