Growing international success among food and drink producers offered some cheer yesterday as the latest official figures showed a continuing decline in Scotland’s manufactured export sales.
Scottish Business, Innovation and Energy Minister, Paul Wheelhouse, said subdued global demand and lower oil prices had contributed to a dip in the volume of exports in the first three months of 2016.
Figures from the quarterly Index of Manufacturing Exports revealed a fall of 0.5% in manufactured exports compared to the final quarter of 2015. On a rolling annual basis, comparing average growth in the most recent four quarters to that of the previous four, export volumes dropped by 2.1%.
However, international sales of Scottish food and drink products bucked the trend with a 3.3% increase in the first quarter. Exports by manufacturers of textiles, clothing and leather goods also rose by 2.1%
Mr Wheelhouse said the overall figures were a reminder that Scotland’s economy continued to face “substantial challenges.”
He said: “Subdued global demand and the impact of a lower oil price environment have contributed to a drop in first quarter export volumes for companies working in several parts of the Scottish economy.
“However, more encouragingly, the figures also point to growth in other areas of the economy, including a 3.3% increase in food and drink exports, which make up more than a third of Scotland’s manufactured overseas exports, and in exports by textiles, clothing and leather goods manufacturers, which increased by 2.1%.
“While Scotland’s economy is fundamentally strong, our continued EU status – and, thereby, our place in the world’s biggest single market – is absolutely vital when it comes to promoting trade and protecting jobs, investment and long-term-prosperity; and this why we are committed to pursuing every possible avenue to maintain our place in the EU.”
The minister added: “Trade and business continues as normal and we are determined that Scotland will continue to be an attractive and a stable place to do business and, with this in mind, our enterprise agencies work, day in day out, to support businesses to compete and, ideally, lead in both domestic and export markets.”
Commenting on the relative success of the food and drink industry, Alasdair Hughson, managing director of Keltic Seafare, said it reflected his company’s experience in international markets in recent months.
The Dingwall-based company, which won the Queen’s Award for Enterprise for International Trade three years ago, supplies live shellfish from the Highlands to customers throughout the UK and overseas.
Mr Hughson said: “We have not seen much change and demand from international customers is good. That is probably down to the exchange rates, but we are likely to start feeling financial pressure from that.
“Outside the UK, France is our main export market. We used to export a lot to Spain and Italy too, but that all started to change about four years ago with the problems in their economies.
“We haven’t seen any impact from the Brexit vote on our export sales yet.”
Development agency Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) provides support to food and drink companies looking to grow their international sales.
Elaine Jamieson, head of food and drink at HIE, said: “The figures reflect the challenges faced by Scottish food and drink exporters over the last quarter. However, Scotland is implementing a national food and drink export strategy and investment is being focused on developing priority markets around the world through SDI in-market specialists.
“HIE supports food and drink businesses to sustainably grow international sales through a range of initiatives, including the flexible Preparing to Export programme aimed at developing a very focused knowledge of overseas trade and routes to market.
“We are also working with a range of businesses to increase the level of innovation in the sector, ensuring products and services are aligned to consumer demands and are competitive in global markets.”
