TALLINN — Estonian exports made a huge jump up by 11 percent in January, although import fell by 3 percent comparing to the same period last year.

According to Statistics Estonia, the largest sector of export growth was petroleum products and oil shale. The export in Jan. 2010 was 8.1 million krooni (€515,000) in total, and import 8.6 million krooni (€547,000), however import was down by 3 percent comparing to January 2009. Meanwhile January’s trade deficit accounted for 500 million krooni (€31 million), threefold less than the [private_supervisor]previous year. The current account deficit was an underlying problem throughout the “Baltic Tiger” boom years.

Maris Lauri, a Swedbank analyst said the export numbers were a welcome surprise.

“Yes, the growth of exports was somewhat stronger that what was hoped,” Lauri told Baltic Reports. “There will be months when the increase of exports will be smaller than it was in January but the tendency will remain the same — exports are growing.”

However, Merike Riipinen, an economic analyst for the Ministry of Economy said that considering the decrease of prices, though, the real growth in exports was only 1 percent.

“That kind of growth was mainly low reference base, but also a moderate recovery in the demand by our main trading partners can be noticed,” Riipinen told media.

The rapid growth was also largely affected by the price of gas, which was more than twice higher than last January, Riipinen said.

The increase in exports is not being felt by transport companies. Logistics has been one of the hardest-hit sectors in the Baltic states as domestic demand plummeted.

According to Statistics Estonia, economic crisis left a big impression on Estonian transport enterprises in 2009, with the loss of 1.8 billion krooni (€114,000). Transport companies experienced a strong fall in the freight volume as the freight turnover decreased by 13 percent in 2009.  However, passenger transport did not change so much. The net sales were 23 billion krooni, being 21 percent  smaller than a year before. [/private_supervisor] [private_subscription 1 month]previous year. The current account deficit was an underlying problem throughout the “Baltic Tiger” boom years.

Maris Lauri, a Swedbank analyst said the export numbers were a welcome surprise.

“Yes, the growth of exports was somewhat stronger that what was hoped,” Lauri told Baltic Reports. “There will be months when the increase of exports will be smaller than it was in January but the tendency will remain the same — exports are growing.”

However, Merike Riipinen, an economic analyst for the Ministry of Economy said that considering the decrease of prices, though, the real growth in exports was only 1 percent.

“That kind of growth was mainly low reference base, but also a moderate recovery in the demand by our main trading partners can be noticed,” Riipinen told media.

The rapid growth was also largely affected by the price of gas, which was more than twice higher than last January, Riipinen said.

The increase in exports is not being felt by transport companies. Logistics has been one of the hardest-hit sectors in the Baltic states as domestic demand plummeted.

According to Statistics Estonia, economic crisis left a big impression on Estonian transport enterprises in 2009, with the loss of 1.8 billion krooni (€114,000). Transport companies experienced a strong fall in the freight volume as the freight turnover decreased by 13 percent in 2009. However, passenger transport did not change so much. The net sales were 23 billion krooni, being 21 percent smaller than a year before. [/private_subscription 1 month] [private_subscription 4 months]previous year. The current account deficit was an underlying problem throughout the “Baltic Tiger” boom years.

Maris Lauri, a Swedbank analyst said the export numbers were a welcome surprise.

“Yes, the growth of exports was somewhat stronger that what was hoped,” Lauri told Baltic Reports. “There will be months when the increase of exports will be smaller than it was in January but the tendency will remain the same — exports are growing.”

However, Merike Riipinen, an economic analyst for the Ministry of Economy said that considering the decrease of prices, though, the real growth in exports was only 1 percent.

“That kind of growth was mainly low reference base, but also a moderate recovery in the demand by our main trading partners can be noticed,” Riipinen told media.

The rapid growth was also largely affected by the price of gas, which was more than twice higher than last January, Riipinen said.

The increase in exports is not being felt by transport companies. Logistics has been one of the hardest-hit sectors in the Baltic states as domestic demand plummeted.

According to Statistics Estonia, economic crisis left a big impression on Estonian transport enterprises in 2009, with the loss of 1.8 billion krooni (€114,000). Transport companies experienced a strong fall in the freight volume as the freight turnover decreased by 13 percent in 2009. However, passenger transport did not change so much. The net sales were 23 billion krooni, being 21 percent smaller than a year before. [/private_subscription 4 months] [private_subscription 1 year]previous year. The current account deficit was an underlying problem throughout the “Baltic Tiger” boom years.

Maris Lauri, a Swedbank analyst said the export numbers were a welcome surprise.

“Yes, the growth of exports was somewhat stronger that what was hoped,” Lauri told Baltic Reports. “There will be months when the increase of exports will be smaller than it was in January but the tendency will remain the same — exports are growing.”

However, Merike Riipinen, an economic analyst for the Ministry of Economy said that considering the decrease of prices, though, the real growth in exports was only 1 percent.

“That kind of growth was mainly low reference base, but also a moderate recovery in the demand by our main trading partners can be noticed,” Riipinen told media.

The rapid growth was also largely affected by the price of gas, which was more than twice higher than last January, Riipinen said.

The increase in exports is not being felt by transport companies. Logistics has been one of the hardest-hit sectors in the Baltic states as domestic demand plummeted.

According to Statistics Estonia, economic crisis left a big impression on Estonian transport enterprises in 2009, with the loss of 1.8 billion krooni (€114,000). Transport companies experienced a strong fall in the freight volume as the freight turnover decreased by 13 percent in 2009. However, passenger transport did not change so much. The net sales were 23 billion krooni, being 21 percent smaller than a year before. [/private_subscription 1 year]

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