2010 was a banner year for the state’s exporting companies as the value of shipments to overseas markets surged to $4.2 billion, an all-time record, according to Greg Wolf, Executive Director of World Trade Center Alaska.
“While Japan maintained its long-standing rank as Alaska’s number one trading partner, continuing significant growth in exports to China accounted for a sizable portion of the increase last year,” Wolf said. “Another factor fueling the record year was the higher prices received for the state’s natural resource exports, especially minerals.”
The Pacific Rim accounts for approximately 75 percent of the state’s total overseas exports. Japan, China, and Korea rank as Alaska’s top three markets, followed by Canada. These four nations alone account for 70 percent of Alaska’s exports. Five European countries, Switzerland, Germany, Spain, the Netherlands, and Belgium, along with Australia, round out the top ten markets for Alaska.
Seafood has been and remains Alaska’s largest export commodity, totaling $1.8 billion last year. Minerals, predominantly zinc and lead, was the second largest export category, totaling $1.3 billion last year. Energy exports, consisting of LNG and coal, ranked third at $418 million. Precious metals – gold and silver – shipments totaled $213 million, followed by forest products at $117 million.
Wolf noted the increase in mineral prices enabled the value of those exports to increase from $853 million in 2009 to $1.3 billion in 2010, a new record. Zinc prices, which averaged 0.75 cents per pound in 2009, rose to an average of 0.98 cents per pounds in 2010, a 31 percent increase, Wolf pointed out. He also noted lead prices also experienced a price increase, from an average of 0.78 cents per pound in 2009 to 0.97 cents last year, a 24 percent increase. Rising prices also benefitted gold and silver exports.
Wolf said Japan’s ranking as Alaska’s number one export market is being seriously challenged by China, the state’s fastest growing trade customer. Alaskan exports of seafood and natural resources to China have risen from just $103 million in 2000 to a record of $923 million in 2010. “This ten-year period of sustained and dramatic export growth to a single nation is unprecedented for Alaska,” Wolf said. “It reflects the dynamic growth that is leading China to be the world’s largest economy by as early as 2016.”
China’s purchases of Alaskan seafood now rival that of Japan. In addition, China was a larger buyer than Japan of both Alaskan minerals and forest products in 2010. Alaska’s exports in 2011 are expected to grow both in volume and value.
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