Production Down Across Europe In May

Seasonally adjusted figures for industrial production fell by 0.3% in the euro area and by 0.6% in the EU27 compared with April according to Eurostat. Production had increased in April by 0.5% and 0.3% respectively.

The production of consumer durables decreased by 2.3% in the euro area and 2.1% in the EU27. Capital goods decreased by by 1.5% and 1.9% respectively and intermediate goods by 0.4% and 0.2% respectively. Energy rose by 0.1% in the euro area and fell by 0.3% in the EU27. Non-durable consumer goods increased by 0.6% in the euro area and fell by 0.1% in the EU27.

Nationally, the largest decreases were in Romania (-10.7%), Lithuania (-6.3%) and Sweden (-3.8%). Portugal (6.1%), Latvia (2.2%) and Estonia (2%) saw the largest increases.

Trade Deficit Narrowed To £1.6bn In October

The seasonally adjusted trade in goods and services deficit was £1.6bn in October down from £4.3bn in September according to the ONS. It is the smallest deficit since April.

The deficit on trade in goods amounted to £7.6bn and the surplus on trade in services amounted £6bn. Exports rose to a record £26.5bn and imports fell from the record £34.6bn in September to £34.1bn in October. Both import and export prices fell in October by 0.6% and 0.4% respectively.

There was a £2.1bn increase in exports of goods to both EU (£13.9bn) and non-EU (£12.6bn) countries.

The biggest changes in key commodity value between September and October were in exports of chemicals (+£596m) and capital goods (+£327) and imports of oil (+£276m). Consumer goods other than cars had the biggest downward change (-£246).

Slight Increase In Industrial Producer Prices

The industrial producer price index went up by 0.1% in August in the euro area compared with July 2010 and was unchanged in the EU27. Compared with August 2009, industrial producer prices increased by 3.6% in the euro area and 3.9% in the EU27.

In both zones, over the month prices for intermediate goods increased by 0.4%, by 0.2% for non-durable consumer goods and 0.1% for durables. Capital goods decreased by 0.1% in the euro area and were unchanged in the EU27. Energy prices decreased by 0.4% and 0.7% respectively.

If August 2009 prices are compared with August 2010 prices total industry prices (excluding energy) increased by 2.2% in the euro area and 2.4% in the EU27. Energy prices increased by 7.5% in the euro area and 7.6% in the EU27. Durables increased by 1.1% and 1.4% respectively, non-durables by 0.4% and 0.7% respectively. Prices for intermediate goods rose by 4.7% in both zones. Capital goods increased by 0.5% in the euro area and 0.9% in the EU27.

Demand For Manufactured Goods Slightly Weaker

The latest Industrial Trends report from the CBI says that overall demand for UK manufactured goods weakened slightly in June. Order books are still close to their long-term average. Export orders are however also weaker compared with last month but almost normal. Output is still expected to be increased during the next three months. Prices are expected to rise but more slowly than the last three months. Consumer goods are not exopected to rise and no change is expected in capital goods. Stocks are more than adequate to meet demand for the third month in a row, but below the survey's long-run average.

Deficit In Trade In April Up £0.1bn

The UK still has a deficit on trade in goods and services. In April the deficit was £3.3bn compared with £3.2bn in March. The deficit on trade in goods was £7.3bn but services still reported a surplus of £4bn compared with £4.1bn in March. Total exports of services fell by £0.1bn to £13.4bn and imports of services fell to £9.4bn.

Comparing April with March 2010 the main contributors to the difference were an increase of £171m from the export of cars, £130m from the export of chemicals and £125m from the export of consumer goods. There were decreases of £194m in intermediate goods and £201m in the export of aircraft. Sectors that made a significant difference on the import side were ships with an increase in value of £225m and £249m from the import of oil. Offsetting these were a decrease in the import semi-manufactured goods (other than chemicals) to the value of £392m and a decrease to the value of £159m from the import of consumer goods (other than cars).

The deficit on trade in goods with the EU increased slightly in April by £0.1bn to £3.3bn . Over the three months to April the deficit was £1.2bn smaller at £9.4bn. EU exports increased by £1.3bn to £34.4bn and EU imports by £0.1bn to £43.9bn.

As export prices fell by 0.2% and import prices increased by 0.2% in April compared with March, there was a decrease in the terms of trade. If oil is excluded, export prices fell by 1% and import prices fell by 0.2%. Over the quarter, there was a decrease in the terms of trade as export prices increased by 3.3% and import prices increased by 3.6%. Expoprt prices increased by 2.5% and import prices by 2.8% if the oil price effect is excluded. The balance of trade in oil in April was a deficit of £0.4bn. Oil exports were £2.7bn and imports £3.1bn. Over the quarter the balance of trade in oil was in deficit by £0.7bn. There was an increase in value of £0.6bn in exports to £7.9bn and an increase of £0.7bn in imports to £8.6bn.

Trade Deficit

The trade deficit in March was £3.7bn compared with £2.2bn in February. On a quarterly basis the trade deficit for the first quarter (Q1) was £9.7bn compared with £8.7bn for Q4 2009. The trade surplus in services was valued at £3.8bn the trade deficit in goods was £7.5bn in March 2010 compared with £4.1bn and £6.3bn respectively in February.

In terms of changes in commodity value in March oil exports increased by £198m and exports of intermediate goods by £133m, chemicals imports decreased by £314m in value. The value of imports of intermediate goods increased by £268m and cars by £211m. All categories reported an increase in the value of imports during March. The change in the value exports of oil for the quarter was an increase of £511m. The value of consumer goods exports increased £372m. Exports of cars decreased in value by £236m and chemicals by £206m.

Geographical analyses show that within the G7 exports to the US fell by £0.5bn and imports from Germany increased in value by £0.3bn. Imports from Norway fell by £0.2bn during March compared with February. There were no significant changes in exports or imports within the G7 during the quarter but imports from Switzerland increased by £1.1bn, from Norway by £0.6bn and China by £0.5bn.

The volume of exports fell by 1.8% but imports increased by 3.5% with imports of basic materials up 6.5% and exports up 9%. Imports of cars went up 14.9% but exports fell by 5.2% in March. Over the quarter imports of basic materials increased 12.5% but exports fell 0.5%, imports of semi-manufactured goods increased by 13.2% but exports fell by 1.2%. Exports of consumer goods increased by 7.9%.

There was an increase in the terms of trade in March as exports prices rose by 2.9% and import prices rose by 2.7%. Over the quarter the terms of trade increased because export prices rose by 2.7% and import prices rose by 2.4%.

UK Trade Deficit Cut By £0.2bn.

The seasonally adjusted trade deficit in goods and services was cut by £0.2bn from £3.1bn in October to £2.9bn in November. The deficit on trade in goods was £6.8bn compared with £7bn and the surplus on services was unchanged at £3.9bn. The volume of exports excluding oil and erratics was 0.2% up but the volume of imports was down 0.9% in November. Export prices fell 0.4% and import prices fell by 0.6% on October.

In terms of value, total exports were unchanged at £20.2bn though total imports fell by £0.2bn to £27bn. Exports of cars fell by £26m while imports of cars increased by £96m, but exports of consumer goods other than cars increased by £131m and imports of consumer goods other than cars fell by £227m. Exports of chemicals increased by £96m and imports fell by £138m on November compared with October 2009.

In the three months ended November 2009 the trade deficit in goods increased by £1.6bn to £20.7bn compared with a deficit of £19.2bn in the previous three months to August. Total exports rose to £59.8bn from £55.7bn and total imports rose to £80.6bn. Exports of chemicals increased by £713m and imports by £1,485m. Intermediate goods exports increased by £612m and imports by £974m. Exports of cars increased by £609m and imports by £1,086m.

In terms of volume, in November 2009 compared with October 2009, exports increased by 0.2% and imports decreased by 0.9% compared with October. Food, drink and tobacco exports increased by 2.7% and imports fell by 0.9%, basic materials exports fell by 8.8% and imports by 6%. Semi-manufactured goods increased by 0.9% and imports fell by 1.9% of which chemicals exports went up by 3.3% and imports fell by 4.1%. There was no change in the volume of finished manufactured goods overall but within the classification the volume of exports of consumer goods went up by 9.6% and imports fell by 4.5%, intermediate goods went up by 1.1% and imports by 2.4%.

In the three months ending in November, the volume of exports of goods rose by 5.5% and the volume of imports rose by 6.9% compared with the previous three months to August. The volume of exports of basic materials increased by 10% and imports by 9.2%. Finished manufactured goods volumes totalled a 5.8% increase in exports and 7.1% increase in imports of which exports of cars increased by 16.2% and imports by 25.5%, intermediate goods export volumes increased by 5.7% and imports by 7.6% and capital goods export volumes increased by 6.6% and imports by 5.1%.

Export prices fell by 0.4% and import prices by 0.6% in November compared with October leading to an increase in the terms of trade. Export prices, excluding the oil price effect, fell by 0.8% and import prices by 1%. In the three months to November export prices rose by 2.7% and import prices by 2.3% on the previous quarter likewise leading to an increase in the terms of trade. Export prices, excluding the oil price effect, rose by 2.2% and import prices by 1.8%.

Trade in services remained unchanged in November with a surplus of £3.9bn. Exports rose by £0.2bn and imports by £0.2bn. Total exports were unchanged at £38.8bn although imports rose slightly by £0.1bn to £27.2bn.

Trade In Goods Is Down, Services Unchanged

The UK trade deficit in the value of goods and services grew from £3.1bn in September to £3.2bn in October. The difference was in value of the trade in goods where the deficit increased from £6.9bn in September to £7.1bn in October. The trade surplus in services was unchanged over the month at £3.9bn. Export and import prices both rose by 1.6%.

The volume of exports was up 3.8% and imports by 4.3% inOctober compared with September. There were big increases in the export by value of oil, cars, intermediate goods and semi-manufactured goods other than chemicals between October and September. Imports of chemicals, consumer goods and capital goods also increased significantly in terms of commodity value during the month. The value of exports of chemicals, cars, semi-manufactured goods and intermediate goods has also significantly increased as has the imports of cars, chemicals, intermediate goods and consumer goods over the year.

Trade in goods with EU countries showed a deficit of £3.6bn, up £0.4bn as exports rose by £0.4bn to £11.3bn and imports rose £0.8bn to £14.9bn. The deficit in trade with non-EU countries narrowed to £3.5bn from £3.8bn in September. Within the G7 countries, imports from the US went up £0.4bn and imports from Norway fell £0.2bn. There were no export movements over £0.2bn.

As the prices for both imports and exports were unchanged in October, the terms of trade remained the same as September. Over the quarter import prices increased by 1.6% and export prices by 2% giving an increase in the terms of trade. The balance on trade in oil was in deficit by £0.1bn from £0.5bn in September.

The surplus on trade in services as unchanged in October from September at £3.9bn. Exports rose to £12.9bn and imports rose to £9bn. Over the quarter the surplus widenend to £12bn from £11.4bn.