Albany Metro Exports Rebounded in 2020
Albany Metro Exports Rebounded in 2020
Global demand for computer and electronic products helped Capital Region exports rebound during the pandemic in 2020. Stronger demand from Asia, Africa and South America also helped offset small export declines to the major regional trade partners in North America and Europe, according to a Center for Economic Growth (CEG) analysis of new data from the International Trade Administration.
World Exports
After five consecutive years of declines, exports from the five-county Albany-Schenectady-Troy metropolitan statistical area (MSA) saw its worldwide exports increase by 2.8 percent to $3.15 billion in 2020. However, exports from the Glens Falls MSA, which includes Warren and Washington counties, declined by 3.6 percent to $244.3 million.
Sectors
In the Albany metro area, computer and electronic products, the Albany MSA’s largest export, likely driven by GLOBALFOUNDRIES, continued on an 11-year growth trend with an annual increase of 2 percent to $1.41 billion. Chemical exports also rose by 6.6 percent to $878.4 million. Among the area’s other leading exports, paper sustained the sharpest decline, falling by 18.1 percent to $62.1 million. In the Glens Falls metro area, leading exports such as machinery and miscellaneous manufactured goods declined by 28.7 percent and 24 percent, respectively.
Export Regions
In 2020, the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), a forum of 21 member economies such as Australia, China, Japan and Russia, regained its spot as the Albany metro area’s leading trade zone with $1.5 billion in exports. That was up 6.3 percent from the previous year and enough to surpass the European Union at $1.4 billion after a 1.8 percent decline. The only year in the past decade when APEC was not the Albany metro area’s leading trade zone was in 2019 when the EU surpassed it.
Other regions and trade with which the Albany metro area realized significant export gains were Africa (up 38.5 percent to $26 million), South America (up 27.9 percent to $72.2 million) and the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) (up 11.3 percent to $72.2 million). The only major trade zones with which the Glens Falls MSA made export gains were the Dominican Republic-Central America FTA (CAFTA-DR) (up 201.1 percent to $20.5 million) and the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) (up 2.1 percent to $105.8 million).
CEG Initiatives
To boost Capital Region exports, CEG is engaged in the following activities:
Exportech: This is a CEG Business Growth Solutions (BGS) program that provides manufacturers with a step-by-step system for expanding into new markets, adding customers and driving profitable growth.
Supply Chain Development: CEG BGS can have import/export assessments completed based on products codes using our Import Substitution program.
Global NY: This is the state’s one-stop shopping center for New York businesses looking to enter foreign markets, providing them with loan and grant opportunities, export marketing assistance services and State Trade Expansion Program (SET) funding.
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