NORTH East manufacturers led the region to its best ever trade performance in 2010 with exports hitting a record total of almost £12bn.
Car maker Nissan’s Wearside plant was at the forefront of the export charge with a record production year boosting the value of the goods from the region being sold abroad by more than £1bn.
And the region’s manufacturing sector also produced a storming year with exports up by an additional £1bn.
The surge in exports – up 24% from £9.6bn to £11.9bn – was met with a similar £2bn rise in imports.
One further highlight was the region’s performance in the last quarter of 2010, with exports of £3.3bn, which was the best on record and compared sharply with the fall in national GDP of 0.6%.
The success of the region’s exporters is helping to ease the pain of the continuing job losses in the public sector, say industry experts.
David Coppock, international trade director for UK Trade and Investment (UKTI) in the North East, said: “This is terrific news for the region.
“What is particularly pleasing is the record performance of the final quarter which was a record quarter of exports for the region.
“There is every sign this will continue in the coming year which is excellent new for the regional economy and should help provide a shot in the arm for the employment market.”
James Ramsbotham, NECC chief executive, added: “The Government is clearly focused on a growing private sector as the way of picking up the economy and the region’s manufacturers and engineers seem to be leading the way.
“This is creating new jobs for the North East and is also creating jobs for the companies which provide services to these successful companies.
“We are region that is still very strong in manufacturing as the recent decisions by SSI and Hitachi show.
“This shows that companies from across the world have faith in the North East engineering and manufacturing skills.”
Experts say the region is benefiting from the competitive price of sterling against other currencies, in particular the euro.
Exports for the region to the United States were flat last year, but rose by 28% to Europe and 40% to Asia.
Nissan produced 423,262 cars in 2010, up 25% on the previous year, making it the most successful year since the site began operating in 1986.
The popularity of the Qashqai and the Juke, which are designed, engineered and built in the UK, helped drive its performance.
The region is still the only one in the UK with a balance of payments surplus, the figures published by HM Revenue & Customs yesterday show.
They also show that the North East exports more than Wales and Northern Ireland but has the lowest total value of exports of all English regions.
Alan Hall, regional director of manufacturers’ organisation EEF, said: “The manufacturing sector is doing very well with a substantial majority of our members performing ahead of the previous year.
“This is a good news story for the North East and comes as the Government is encouraging manufacturing growth to boost the UK economy.”
In 2009 The Journal and North East Chamber of Commerce launched the Go Global campaign to encourage firms in the region to export more of their goods and services. The total value of UK exports for 20101 was £262bn, up 16% on the previous year.
The figures do not include the value of services exported.
