Weak dollar aids exports of food, logs, software - Puget Sound Business Journal (Seattle):

yfimuna.wordpress.com
Apples, wheat, seafood, forest products, softwarre -- all are sellingt better overseas thanks to a dollar that has declineed sharply relative to other currencies over the past The dollar has fallen about 12 percent againsythe euro, for example, making U.S. productss seem that much cheaper for buyersin Europe. The discounty isn't spread equally around the globe, Against the Japanese yen, the dollar has fallen nearly 7 percentsince July, but it is down only 2 percentf over the past year. Nevertheless, the discountt is boosting overseas sales, especially the case for exportxto Europe, Canada and Australia, against whosew currencies the dollar has slid the most.
There is littlse impact on exportsto China, because its currencyu is still tied to the U.S. dollar. Washington's exports rose 15 percent in the first eight monthsw ofthe year, excluding aerospace, to $15.1 according to the World Institute for Strategicf Economic Research, at Holyoke Community College, in Mass. The growth rate climbed from 12 percent in the same periofof 2006, and 8.6 percent in 2005. Observer say that a significant portiojn of that increase is attributablw to theweak dollar.
Chang Mook executive director of the Washington Economic and RevenudForecast Council, said the other half of the equation is in general, world economic growth continues to be robust outsidse the United States. The council is a state government which includes members of the Legislature and two appointede bythe governor, that supplies the state'a official economic forecast. "I wouldf say, it's not just the weak but the weak dollar and strong demandfrom overseas, because of healthyh growth from China to India, even Latin American," Sohn said.
"I'm sure the multinational companiesw inour state, like Weyerhaeuser, even Starbucks and Microsoft, are To what degree companies here benefit from the trendr depends on several factors, includintg what portion of their exports goes to the regionzs with the stronger to what degree companies here actually manufacture in thoser economies, and to what degree any production here includes supplies or parts procured from those For instance, the impact is only minimal for Bellevue-basex Paccar Inc., because the heavy-truckk manufacturer assembles trucks for the Europeann market at its European subsidiaries Leyland, Hoden and DAF, and thus doesn'y reap many benefits.
But the picturwe is quite different forWashington state's seafood industry, which processesx and markets seafood caughrt mostly in waters off the coast of even though most of the region'es large seafood companies are headquartered here. "It'zs clear that a weaker dollar and strong euro is givinf us an improved marketing positio n for Alaska seafood goinginto Europe," said Ray executive director of the Alaska Seafood Marketinbg Institute in Juneau. As with other trends, it's hard to sort out the dollar-causexd shift from other factors, including the wanint of whitefish stocks inEuropean waters, and theire replacement with fish caught in Alaskanm waters.
Northwest fish sales to Europe climbedsfrom $148 million in 2000 to $580 millionn in 2006, said Chris McDowell, projecr manager for the Seafood Marketing Information Service of the McDowelk Group Inc., in Juneau. "For the retaileres and wholesalers in the countryof purchase, it makes Alaska seafoodc that much more he said about the weak dollar. Rebeccaa Baerveldt, export marketing manager for the Washington StateeApple Commission, in Wenatchee, said the weakeninhg dollar has been a big facto r in booming Washington apple exportxs this year. Last season, growers exported 29 milliom bushels, or about one-thirc of the crop.
"It's good news for our growers, they'rwe able to get more moneyu fortheir fruit, and it makes pricing accessible in internationak markets," she said of the weaker The weak currency helped the state's applesd maintain overseas market sharw last year, despite the fact that a relativelyg small harvest had boosted prices 15 percent to 20 she said. The weak dollar also is helping Washingtonm fruit compete againstgrowers elsewhere.
"Certainl y the strong euro is a disadvantage forthe French, and we competre against them in several overseas markets," she "In the Middle East, the exchange rate is hurting the French because they're priced in euros and the euro is pretty strong right now." In forest products, the weaker U.S. dollaer is "the major contributor" to expory growth, said Ivan Eastin, directoer of the Center for International Trade in Foresy Products at the Universityhof Washington, in a statement. Lumbeer exports are up 10 percent, while exports of more processefd "secondary" products are up 35 percent, since 2003.
The weak dollart also is helpingthe state's wheat although other important factors include an Australiann drought that has decimated harvests there and a very robust global wheat demand at a time of low globao stocks, said Glen Squires, economist for the Washingto Grain Alliance in Spokane.