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Annual Report: No. 5 United Kingdom- Striking a balance

June 27th, 2006

Georgia’s exports to and imports from the U.K. are nearly even, and that’s uncommon at a time of big U.S. trade deficits.

There is one distinctive thing about trade between Georgia and the United Kingdom: It is nearly balanced.

As $3.9 billion in cargo moved between Georgia and the European country in 2005, there was only a $178 million difference between the value of exports and that of imports. Georgia sent nearly $1.9 billion in goods to its fifth most important trade partner and imported $2 billion-worth.

There’s another thing about Georgia-U.K. trade. Much of it has to do with transportation.

Georgia’s autoport at Brunswick is one of the most important car-handling facilities on the East Coast. Georgia’s imports of British vehicles for passengers and cargo posted double-digit increases last year while forklift truck imports went up nearly 107 percent, making the European nation third in automotive traffic with the state after South Korea and Germany.

On the export side, Georgia – the home of Gulfstream Aerospace – shipped $223 million in aircraft to the United Kingdom in 2005.

Nearly $766 million-worth of British vehicles entered Georgia in 2005. In Brunswick, cargo handlers unloaded nearly 13,000 Land Rovers and more than 6,500 Jaguars at the Colonel’s Island facility where vehicles are processed and then transported to auto dealers and showrooms around the United States.

Overall, U.S. sales of Land Rover 4×4 vehicles rose more than 30 percent in 2005, compared with a year earlier, according to the automaker. However, Jaguar sales have been slumping. They fell by just under a third last year and British production of Jaguars was slashed by 40 percent in 2005, according to CSM Worldwide, an auto market research company based in Detroit.

The Port of Savannah, meanwhile, handles imports of U.K.-made heavy machinery such as forklifts trucks, tractors and bulldozers. The port received nearly $133 million-worth of British forklifts in 2005, while combined imports of tractors, excavators and other construction equipment totaled $90 million.

Imports of British-made machinery parts were also on the rise, swelling nearly 30 percent to end the year at $21 million.

Double-digit increases were posted in another commodity: Imports of vodka, rum, gin and other liquors rose nearly 27 percent to surpass $27 million. Diageo, one of world’s largest beverage companies, is headquartered in London and some of its breweries are in Britain.

Nearly the same value – $27 million – in medical instruments also was imported by Georgia, while the Peach State brought in $44 million in two commodity categories of medicine from the United Kingdom.

Medicine, however, proved to be a more valuable export from Georgia, rising more than 774 percent to total $60 million.

Most importantly on the export side, Georgia’s aircraft shipments to Britain rose nearly 84 percent in 2005. At the same time, exports of $124 million regional jet parts as well as $163 million in parts for larger aircraft reflected declines when compared to 2004 but they remained among the top five export commodities.

Other significant exports included line telephony, passenger vehicles and optical fibers. Although electric equipment for line telephony fell more than 19 percent from a year earlier, it was the second most important export, valued at $194 million. Optical fiber exports were also down slightly, to total $72 million.

But the most dramatic decline came in the automotive category. Even as it imported cars, Georgia exported them – they were the fifth most important outgoing commodity. Still, their value dropped 45 percent to end the year at $120 million.

Auto parts, however, were one of the fastest-growing exports, rising almost 271 percent to reach almost $26 million.