SCOTTISH Chambers of Commerce has expressed concerns about slow progress in rebalancing the UK economy, after official figures revealed goods exports had tumbled to their lowest monthly level since September 2010.
The figures, which show the UK's global goods trade deficit widening in February to its worst monthly level since last July largely as a result of the drop in exports, contrast with Chancellor George Osborne's March 2011 vision of "a Britain carried aloft by the march of the makers".
The seasonally-adjusted data, published yesterday by the Office for National Statistics, showed that UK goods exports tumbled from £24.06 billion in January to £23.16bn in February. The ONS noted this was the lowest monthly level since September 2010.
The UK's deficit on trade in goods with the rest of the world consequently widened from an upwardly-revised £9.17bn in January to £10.34bn in February.
The ONS had last month estimated the UK's global goods trade deficit in January at £8.41bn.
And, while exports fell between January and February, the UK's goods imports rose from £33.24bn to £33.5bn.
Liz Cameron, chief executive of Scottish Chambers of Commerce, said: "We know that the UK, as a whole, is not moving fast enough to rebalance the economy towards a net exports position and this is reflected in the trade figures published by the ONS. "
Highlighting measures that Scottish Chambers would like to see to boost overseas sales by firms north of the Border, she added: "From a Scottish business perspective, we want to grow our exporting by making sure businesses have more readily-available export support and finance and by also abolishing air passenger duty, which is hindering Scotland's connectivity with international markets."
However, she cited more positive signs in a survey published this week by British Chambers of Commerce. This survey signalled significant growth in Scottish manufacturers' exports in the first quarter of this year. British Chambers' previous quarterly survey had indicated that manufacturers in Scotland suffered a fall in exports in the final three months of last year.
Ms Cameron said: "In the short term, we are seeing some positive exporting trends for Scotland's manufacturing firms over Q1 2015 and also expect strong growth in export revenue into Q2.
"Given the recent economic difficulties experienced by some of Scotland's key export markets in the EU (European Union) and further afield, it is encouraging that our manufacturers are still successfully growing in these markets."
The City had predicted that the UK would record a global goods trade deficit of £9bn in February, so the actual figure was much worse than expected.
The poor UK trade figures weighed on the pound yesterday.
Sterling was, at 5pm yesterday, trading around $1.4737, down nearly two cents on its close in London on Wednesday. However, this move also reflected dollar strength arising from financial markets' developing views on US monetary policy.
Howard Archer, chief UK economist at consultancy IHS Global Insight, said: "The trade data are undeniably disappointing and deal a significant blow to hopes that net trade helped UK GDP (gross domestic product) growth in the first quarter. Not only was February's deficit appreciably larger than expected but also January's shortfall was revised up significantly."
He added: "After showing recent signs of improvement, exports suffered a relapse in February."
Goods exports by the UK to non-EU countries dropped by 6.6 per cent month-on-month in February to £12.1bn. Exports of goods to the US fell by about £700m. Goods exports to eurozone countries edged up by 0.4 per cent to £9.83bn.
David Kern, chief economist at British Chambers, said in the wake of the latest trade figures: "It is clear that the UK is not yet making adequate process to rebalance the economy towards net exports.
"Unless we see firm action to improve our export performance, it is not clear how we will sustain strong growth in the long term. The UK's trade deficit with the EU reached a record high in the last three months and, while the EU is our largest trading partner, it is vital that we capture more of the export market in the fast-growing economies beyond Europe."
British Chambers had warned again, when it published its latest quarterly business survey this week, that the UK recovery remained too reliant on consumer spending.
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