UK manufacturers optimistic about export prospects

15 May 2006:

Manufacturers' optimism about future export prospects has improved for the first time since July 2004 with several regions showing a particularly marked improvement. According to the latest Confederation of British Industry (CBI) / Experian Regional Trends Survey, the strong economic picture globally and, in particular, signs of recovery across the important euro-zone market, has helped boost UK demand in recent months. A small improvement in domestic conditions also supported national business confidence in the past quarter, which stabilised following 18 months of deterioration.

In four UK regions, the upturn in export sentiment was particularly marked, with the East Midlands seeing the strongest improvement since mid-2003. Scotland, the East of England and the South East & London also experienced a surge in optimism. The West Midlands saw an encouraging, if modest, rise in export confidence, boosted by a rebound in total orders - the strongest for two years - with chemicals and man-made fibres and metal manufacturing doing particularly well.

The UK as a whole posted a marginal increase in total orders, reversing more than a year of steady decline. Export orders, by contrast, fell slightly at the national level. This masked a wide variation in performance across the regions. There were strong upturns in Scotland and Northern Ireland, where the rise brought to an end two years of falling orders. This was further reinforced by the West Midlands, which posted its sharpest gain for more than a decade, with steady increases in the South West, the East of England and the North East.