Irish exports fell by 1 per cent in June, while imports decreased by 2 per cent, according to new figures from the Central Statistics Office (CSO). The seasonally-adjusted trade surplus in June was nearly €2.3 billion, compared with €2.28 billion in May and €2.7 billion in April. Ciarán Brennanreports.
Despite the dip in June, exports for the five months from January to May grew by 6 per cent from €35.76 billion to €37.86 billion, the CSO said.
"This is the fastest rate of growth since 2001 and shows some rebalancing of economic growth which had been over-dependent on domestic demand," said David Croughan of Ibec.
On an unadjusted basis, the value of exports in May 2007 was nearly €7.5 billion, down 4 per cent on May 2006, while the value of imports was just over €5.1 billion, up 3 per cent.
The exports rise in the five months to May was helped by a 33 per cent jump in organic chemicals from €6.79 billion to €9 billion. Exports to Britain were up by 11 per cent to €5.9 billion, while exports to the US rose by 7 per cent to €7.25 billion.
Imports rose by 5 per cent to €26.4 billion in the five months.
"The superior performance by the export sector has led to an ongoing improvement in the trade balance," said Deirdre Ryan, of Goodbody Stockbrokers. "In the first six months the trade balance was over €14 billion, almost €1.4 billion higher than to the same period in 2006. "
Meanwhile, factory gate prices fell by 1 per cent in July 2007, compared with a fall of 0.1 per cent in July of last year. The annual percentage change of manufacturing prices showed a decrease of 1.7 per cent in July, compared with a fall of 0.8 per cent in June.
