US manufacturing exports up 20pc, production keeps pace

US manufacturing exports rose 20 per cent in 2010 year on year with the three leading markets by volume being Canada, Mexico and China and 10 countries accounting for more than two-thirds of the increase, reported Newark's Journal of Commerce.


By dollar volume, Canada was tops with US$220 billion, Mexico was second with $147 billion and China placed third with $64 billion. Citing US Commerce Department figures, the report said exports of US manufactures increased to South Korea (37 per cent) to Brazil (34 per cent), to China (31 per cent), to Mexico (26 per cent) to Canada (22 per cent) and to Japan (18 per cent).


US factory production outpaced expansion of the overall economy, said the group, which predicts American factory production will grow 5.5 per cent in 2011 and 4.6 per cent in 2012, outpacing expansion of the overall economy.


The Manufacturers Alliance/MAPI Quarterly Economic Forecast predicts inflation-adjusted gross domestic product will expand 3.2 per cent in 2011 and three per cent in 2012, an increase on its previous forecast of 2.5 per cent.


"Prospects have improved for a stronger pace of economic growth this year, but there are no home runs," said the group's economist Daniel Meckstroth. "Our 2011 forecast rose due to the additional, and unanticipated, tax stimulus passed at the end of last year. The two per cent payroll deduction and business expensing provisions will pump an additional $300 billion into the economy over the next two years."


Mr Meckstroth expects "an upward trend in the outlook for small business; the continuation and acceleration of new hiring, albeit at a sluggish pace, a rise in business confidence surveys, and a relatively strong export market all point to continued moderate economic growth."


"Manufacturing production will improve because economic growth is strongest in the goods sector," he said. "Consumers have pent-up needs for durable goods, such as appliances and motor vehicles; business equipment demand is strong; and a more competitive dollar helps US exports."
(Source:http://www.schednet.com)