Report shows gloomy export figures for Q1

Irish exporters felt the full impact of the economic downturn in global markets, losing 9.6 per cent of export value in the first quarter, according to the latest depressing statistics revealed in the Irish Exporters Association"s first quarter report for 2009. Total exports for the first quarter of 2009 stood at €33.78 billion, down from €37.38 billion in the same period last year. The Irish Exporters Association (IEA) said that unless the Government provides some additional stimulus for the sector, the prognosis for the full year is that exports will continue to decline at an accelerated rate, leading to substantially increased unemployment in the sector. According to John Whelan, chief executive of the IEA, the association"s forecast for the full year is for exports to fall by 13 per cent, with a loss of export revenue of €20.2 billion and direct job losses of some 91,000. 'The knock-on effect of job losses on this scale on the economy, however, is much greater as each export job supports two other jobs in the community,' he added. Complicating this situation is the fact that indigenous exporters have been particularly badly affected by the effective 21 per cent depreciation in the value of sterling against the euro over the past 12 months. 'Indigenous exporting companies, which traditionally have a high labour content, depend on the UK market for 53 per cent of their sales. We believe that the worse is yet to come because many companies have not yet fully factored the sterling fall into their sales pricing,' said Mr Whelan. He added that when this occurs, indigenous exporters can expect a further loss of competitiveness in the UK, a fall in sales and a further decline in employment.