By IANS
London : Yorkshire, which hosted the IIFA awards in June, has been named as one of the top UK regions that have registered the largest rise in exports to India and Japan, according to a new report.
The report, titled Industry Watch Report from accountants and business advisers, BDO Stoy Hayward, analysed the impact of movements in exchange rates on the UK’s imports and exports of goods to and from the world’s five largest economies – USA, the EU, China, India and Japan.
It identified that between 2003 and 2006, export trade to India from Yorkshire increased by 273 percent and exports to Japan by 164 percent.
This was a significant increase compared to other regions. The West Midlands followed Yorkshire by increasing exports to India by 83 percent and the South-West followed with a 26 percent increase.
However, Neill Rayland, partner and head of manufacturing at the Leeds office of BDO Stoy Hayward, raised some concerns about the region’s dependency on Chinese imports.
He said: “BDO Stoy Hayward’s Industry Watch is concerned with how exchange rates have moved and how the share of trade with each economy has changed. In 2006, the US, EU, China, India and Japan accounted for 79 percent of the UK’s exports and 73 percent of imports.
“Between 2003 and 2006, the pound has appreciated against all of the currencies of these economies with the exception of the Chinese renminbi (Chinese currency).
“This means that over this three-year period, exchange rate movements have meant that UK exports have become increasingly more expensive for businesses and households in the Euro area, India, Japan and the US.
“However, on the other hand, it also means that imports into the UK from these economies have become relatively cheaper.”
The region increased import trade from China by 106 percent in the period between 2003 and 2006 and as such has been hit hard because of the appreciating renminbi, driven by machinery and transport equipment costs.
DLA Piper Leeds associate Josh Wong, who has advised on major Chinese deals, said: “It is important to remember that it is not just the Chinese currency getting stronger, wages are on the increase as well. As China continues to boom, staff in factories is demanding a higher wage so costs are going up. China is not the low cost base it once was.”
Rayland added: “Yorkshire has also lost out significantly from their exporters’ above average dependence on sales in Japan. The fall of the yen by thirteen percent has increased the price of their goods in the country.”
Interestingly, the report revealed that the county is the biggest exporter of beverages and tobacco, accounting for 70 percent of all US imports from the UK.