Trade surplus narrows in July following drop in exports

The value of Irish exports fell by 6 per cent to €8.76 billion in July while goods imports dropped by 2 per cent to €5.14 billion.

As a result, the State’s overall trade surplus for the month fell by €495 million or 12 per cent to €3.6 billion.

Nonetheless, the figures, collated by the Central Statistics Office (CSO), point to another strong year for exports.

On an adjusted basis, the value of goods exports in July was €9.08 billion , representing an increase of €1.8 billion or 25 per cent on the same month last year with big pharma the main driving force.

Exports of medical and pharmaceutical products rose by 69 per cent to €2.8 billion in July compared with July 2014 while exports of organic chemicals increased by 39 per cent to €1.4 billion.

The EU accounted for €5.07 billion or 56 per cent of total exports in July, of which €1.3 billion or 25 per cent went to Belgium.

Antwerp is one of the largest global drug redistribution hubs and receives most of the State’s pharma exports which are not destined for the US.

The US was the main non-EU destination accounting for 20 per cent or €1.8 billion of total exports in July.

The unadjusted value of goods imports in July was €4.85 billion representing a decrease of €294 million (6 per cent) on July 2014.

One of the main drivers was a €123 million (26 per cent) fall-off in imports of petroleum products. Imports of office machines and automatic data processing machines, including computer, meanwhile, increased by €92 million (36 per cent) while imports of road vehicles rose by €76 million (47 per cent).

The CSO noted the value of goods imports in July, if the category including aircraft leasing is excluded, was €4.65 billion, an increase of €417 million (10 per cent) on the corresponding month last year.

The CSO has begun recording the purchase of aircraft by leasing companies resident in Ireland as imports.

Ireland is a global hub for aircraft leasing, with approximately 4,000 commercial aircraft leased through companies here, representing a total value of $115 billion.

Economists believe the inclusion of these idiosyncratic trading patterns will make Ireland’s trade figures more difficult to interpret.

The EU accounted for 61 per cent of the value of goods imports in July, with €1.35 billion (28 per cent) of total imports coming from Britain.