Sweden surpasses Germany as Finland's most important export market

print this

Sweden became the most important export market for Finland last year. According to National Board of Customs figures published on Tuesday, between January and November last year, 11.1 percent of Finland's export trade, equalling EUR 4.9 billion in hard currency, was directed to Sweden.
      This means that Sweden has now surpassed Germany, which for years held the number one position as Finland's most important export destination. Finland continues to import more goods from Germany than from any other nation.
     
According to Customs chief inspector Kari Tähtivaara, there has been a significant increase in export of metal industry goods to Sweden. Most of this is iron and steel, some of which may have been taken to Sweden for further refinement.
      Changes in the top ten list of Finland's export partners relate not only to the increased demand of Finnish products in certain countries, but they also seem to reflect a fundamental structural change that is currently taking place.
      As firms become international, more and more exporting consists of internal traffic within companies.
      Last year, for example, over ten million mobile phones were imported into Finland, a number that far exceeds the demand of the Finnish market. Presumably, most of these phones were just passing through.
     
Russia also has strengthened its position among Finland's most important trading partners. It has passed Britain and the USA on Finland's main export markets list.
      Between January-November last year, Russia was Finland's third largest export market. Russia was the number two country of origin for imports into Finland.
      Another country that has also greatly improved its standing as Finland's trading partner is China. In January-November China was nearly as significant a trading partner to Finland as the United States or Britain.
      In Finland's top ten export market ranking, China has already overtaken France.
     
The National Board of Customs' monthly review reveals that both exporting and importing were in an upswing in November. The growth compared to a year earlier was 19 percent in exports and 18 percent in imports.
      The rest of the year was not quite that bright. Between January and November, Finland's exports and imports grew by four percent and nine percent respectively.
      A big worry at the moment is the poor price development in exports, which, judging by statistics, does not seem to be improving.
      The value of telecoms equipment exports between January-November, for one, was nine percent lower than during the same period in 2003, despite the fact that Finland exported a record number of mobile phones last year.


Links:
  National Board of Customs

Helsingin Sanomat