HK export confidence lifts, but volumes, values remain flat

HONG KONG - The economic headwinds facing Hong Kong’s exports have eased in the early part of 2017, reflecting a broad improvement across major industries. The Hong Kong Trade Development Council’s latest Export Index for the first quarter shows the exporter index rose to 47.1, an increase of 13.4 from the fourth quarter of 2016 - the biggest jump in recent years.

“Despite the still challenging global trade environment, export confidence is on the mend,” said Nicholas Kwan, HKTDC Director of Research, HKTDC, in forecasting Hong Kong export volume to increase by 0.5% in 2017, with export value to remain flat.

“Overall, exporters have been much less pessimistic with regard to their likely export performance over the short-term, although the reading below 50 might still indicates sluggish export performance,” he said.

The indices reflected positive changes in export sentiment for major industries.
The indices for machinery, electronics, toys, jewellery and timepieces recorded a moderate increase, while the best-performing industry, the machinery sector, reported the highest reading of 50, a rise of 15.1 from the previous quarter.
All other industries reported higher readings but remained in negative territory, with significant gains seen for toys (48.3), electronics (48.2), jewellery (45.1) and timepieces (41.7).
“The clothing sector index rebounded to 38 for 1Q17, but remained the most pessimistic among the major industries,” said Kwan.  http://research.hktdc.com/ (ATI).