The export of goods from Israel was up 29% in the first two months of 2010 compared to the same period last year, totaling some $7.5 billion, according to an analysis conducted by the Israel Export and International Cooperation Institute's economic unit.
The rise in exports was recorded after a 30% drop in January and February of 2009 compared to the same period in 2008, and following an average increase of some 13% between 2002 and 2008.
Nonetheless, a significant drop was recorded in the export growth rate (excluding diamonds), from a monthly rate of about 3% in July and August 2009 to a growth rate of about 0.3% in January and February.
The drop in the export growth rate was influenced, among other things, by the electronic components and computers industry (deducting seasonal effects), which fell from an average monthly volume of about $543 between August and September 2009 to a monthly volume of about $377 million (deducting seasonal effects).
Even after deducting the influence of the electronic components and computers industry, a downside trend was still recorded in the export growth rate, from about 2.8% in September to 0.9% in February.
According to Export Institute CEO Avi Hefetz, the export growth is affected mainly by the recovery in global economy. The effective exchange rate of the shekel versus the calculated basket of currencies of the main countries Israel exports to as seen an 8% evaluation since April of 2009.
Sharp drop in jewelry exports
The analysis reveals that there are export industries which had yet to recover from the global financial crisis in January and February. For example, the medicine industry totaled some $712 million – a 15% fall compared to the same period last year, following a 6.7% drop in 2009.
Exports of the machine and equipment industry totaled $332 million – a 10.6% drop compared to the same period last year, following a 17.8% drop in 2009. The rubber and plastic industry's exports totaled some $224 million – an 8% drop compared to the same period last year, following a 28% drop in 2009.
The jewelry industry's exports totaled some $55 million – a sharp drop of about 25% compared to the same period last year, following an 18% decline in 2009. The food and beverages industry's exports amounted to $121 million – a 3% drop, following a 17.7% fall in the industry's exports in 2009. The furniture, paper and print industry's exports dropped by 5% to $52 million, following a 2.7% decline in 2009.
On the other hand, the chemicals industry (excluding medicines) experienced a recovery in January and February, totaling some $11 billion – up 44% following a drop of some 33% in the industry's exports in 2009.
The communication equipment, control and medical equipment industries experienced a recovery as well, with exports totaling $939 million – a 13% rise compared to the same period last year, following a 20.%% drop in the industry's exports in 2009.
The most significant recovery was recorded in the polished diamonds industry, totaling $1.87 billion in January and February – a 50% compared to the same period last year, following a 39% fall in 2009 compared to 2008.