IRISH MANUFACTURING exports grew rapidly in the third quarter of 2010 helped by a good euro exchange rate with the dollar, the Irish Exporters Association has said.
The association’s chief executive John Whelan said the euro exchange rate with the dollar, which averaged 10 per cent lower in the July to September 2010 period than the same quarter in 2009, helped Irish manufactured goods exports to the US increase by 32 per cent in value, and reversed the losses in exports to that market over the last two years.
The exchange rate with sterling also improved during the quarter averaging 0.833, compared to 0.870 in the third quarter of 2009. This helped exports to the UK to rise by 4 per cent in the quarter, Mr Whelan said.
“The concern for the indigenous exporters is the return to weakness in sterling in October, which, if persistent, will undo the clawback of markets from the third quarter,” he added.
In its third-quarter review, the association said the value of the exports sector rose to €40.4 billion between July and September 2010, an increase of 9.3 per cent on the same period last year.
The association said acceleration in export growth was assisted by continued buoyancy in global trade as well as the improvement in exchange rate competitiveness in the quarter.
Merchandise exports in the third quarter of 2010 were €22.9 billion, up from €20.3 billion from the same quarter in 2009, an increase of 12.8 per cent.
This jump signals a rapid return to growth across most of our export markets, the association said. While services exports grew by €2.2 billion to €34.6 billion in the first half of 2010, accounting for 45 per cent of total Irish exports, they eased back to a more modest 4.9 per cent growth in the July to September period.
