Florida Exports Provide Economic Bright Spot

TALLAHASSEE –  Fueled by a weak dollar overseas and healthy Latin American partners, Florida exports boomed in 2008 as fertilizer, motor vehicles, aircraft and medical supplies led a surge of commodities and products at rates exceeding national trends. 

Overall, international trade emerged as one of the few Florida bright spots this year, according to figures compiled by Enterprise Florida and the U.S. Department of Commerce.

“It’s extremely positive because let’s face it, the strong export figures come amidst quite a bit of negative news for Florida’s economy,” said Manny Mencia, senior vice president of Enterprise Florida’s international trade division. “It’s encouraging to see it performing so well, even as U.S. exports have slowed in recent months.”

National figures for the first 10 months of 2008 showed Florida exports up 25.3 percent compared to a 16.2 percent boost for overall U.S. exports during the same period. With $46.2 billion in exports for the first 10 months of 2008, Florida ranks behind only Texas, California, New York and Washington State.

Phosphate and phosphate-based fertilizer led the increase with exports more than doubling for the raw material, which is highly sensitive to international exchange rates. But other leading growth sectors also emerged, led by motor vehicles (up 79 percent), aircraft and aviation parts (up 50 percent) and medical supplies, up 36 percent from the first of the year.

The Florida export figure does not take into account exported services, which account for an additional $30 billion.

Latin America remains the state’s most lucrative trading partner. During the first 10 months of 2008, that region also experienced some of the greatest growth. Exports to Brazil rose 35.6 percent while exports to   Venezuela and Colombia each grew by more than 21 percent.

Latin American countries have benefited from an economic boom of their own in recent years, a largesse that has allowed them to bankroll hard currency reserves that are now being used to import goods, Mencia said. 

Meanwhile, exports to the United Kingdom and Germany rose 23.5 percent and 29.6 percent respectively. Grapefruit shipments to the UK jumped 13.5 percent. India jumped to fourth place from 21st among Florida’s export destinations almost entirely because of fertilizer sales, which increased by 240.1 percent.

Sean Snaith, an economist with the University of Central Florida in Orlando, said the weakened dollar has helped boost state exports to traditional trading partners in what has been otherwise a year to forget. But other factors also contributed.

“A larger trend is Florida is becoming more a part of a globalizing approach (to trade,)” Snaith said.

More than 44,000 Florida companies export, employing 1.1 million workers, either directly or indirectly. Exports account for about 16.5 percent of the state’s workforce

Mencia said the state’s strong trade figures also represent a result of market decisions made here that have focused the state’s economy on key growth industries like aviation and marketing efforts to make Florida more visible.

“Demand for Florida products has increased,” Mencia said. “Our inventory of products continues to grow as has our reputation as a worldwide trader.”

The nation as a whole is also seeing the export bright spot. In late summer, the U.S. Commerce Department revised the growth in gross domestic product upward to reflect huge export increases.