California export trade rises 13.7% in February from a year ago

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California’s export trade continued to grow in February, jumping 13.7% from the same month last year. The state shipped $10.38 billion in goods that month in a fourth consecutive month of year-over-year increases.

“We are only now getting back to the level of exporting we were at three years ago, before the global financial and economic crisis sent international trade spiraling downward,” said Jock O’Connell, international trade adviser at Beacon Economics.

The number of loaded shipping containers leaving the state’s ports was up 27.5% from last year, while export tonnage at Los Angeles and San Francisco’s main airports rose 26.3%.

Exports of agricultural products led the growth. Shipments of agricultural products and other non-manufactured goods rose 36.9%, while shipments of manufactured products rose 7.3% from last February. The state’s nut products are proving particularly popular abroad, O’Connell said.

O’Connell expects the growth to continue. China may allow its currency to appreciate against the dollar, which would make American products more affordable for Chinese consumers. Other economies in Asia would likely follow suit and allow their currencies to rise against the dollar, O’Connell said.
-- Alana Semuels