Kentucky's exports grew by roughly 1.2 percent, to nearly $7 billion, in the first quarter of 2016, placing the state among the top ten in the country in terms of growth in sales of goods and services across national borders.
Kentucky's export growth, led by aerospace products and parts, automotive components and pharmaceuticals, comes amid shrinking U.S. exports.
According to statistics released by the U.S. Census Foreign Trade Bureau and WISERTrade, Kentucky exported $6.98 billion in goods and services during the first quarter, as compared to $6.89 billion the same period last year. Aerospace products and parts topped Kentucky’s exports by category, with more than $2.6 billion in goods sold between January and March, an increase of nearly 23 percent over the first quarter of 2015.
Following aerospace products were motor vehicles ($768 million), motor vehicle parts ($422 million), pharmaceuticals and medicines ($398 million), resin, synthetic rubber, artificial and synthetic fibers and filament ($279 million), and basic chemicals ($192 million).
Kentucky goods and services sold to more than 170 nations during the first quarter, with Canada, France, the United Kingdom, Mexico and Brazil ranking the state’s top five trade partners. The Commonwealth sold nearly $1.7 billion in products and services to Canada in the first quarter, more than twice as much as to France, the second-most popular destination.
France stood as Kentucky’s fifth-largest trade partner in 2015, but charted a substantial 28.2 percent increase early in 2016 thanks in large part to an increase in exports of aerospace products and parts.
One of the major contributors in that industry is aircraft wheel and brake components maker Messier-Bugatti-Dowty, a subsidiary of French tech giant Safran. The company announced plans in February to expand its Northern Kentucky plant, a project expected to create about 80 jobs with an investment of more than $100 million.
Kentucky’s largest export percentage increases by destination in the first quarter among countries purchasing $100 million or more were: Malaysia (104.7 percent), Saudi Arabia (40.3 percent), Hong Kong (34 percent), France (28.2 percent) and Brazil (18.1 percent)
The largest percentage increases among countries receiving $1 million or more in Kentucky-made products were Georgia (1,365.6 percent), Macao (984 percent), Greece (528 percent), Oman (246 percent) and Philippines (151.8 percent).