In the first half of 2003, British sales in the boating sector amounted to £173 million and this compared with £193 million in the corresponding period for the previous year. Evidently, UK boat manufacturers were facing strong competition overseas, combined with falling demand for certain types of craft.

International trade was still quite sluggish in some parts of the world, while the trading situation in Europe was causing concern. Economic activity in Germany was quite depressed while trading conditions in France and some other parts of the European Union were also quite slow.

The economic trends in the United States remained subdued and the expected recovery in that country has not yet materialised. Economic growth in the US was averaging around 2.5% and some sectors of its economy remained fairly depressed.

The American market is of considerable importance to some British boat suppliers, especially those selling powerboats.

It is not surprising, therefore, that British boat exporters have had a difficult time selling overseas. Evidently, the recent weakness of the pound against the euro has been of limited assistance, as this trend should have made sales in Europe more competitive. In contrast, the pound against the dollar has been stronger, making exports to the USA more difficult than usual.

These conclusions emerge by examining the latest trade figures for the UK, which have been collected by British Customs on a monthly basis.

The figures have been compiled with the help of Tradstat, which is a wellknown database service producing international trade statistics on a online basis.

Trends in exports British exports of inflatables were slightly higher and amounted to £4.3 million in the first half of 2003 as against £3.9 million 12 months earlier. Sales to the US have performed well in this sector, moving up from £1.9 million to £2.4 million between January and June 2003.

Deliveries for inflatables to Europe were mixed, but were higher in France, accounting for £340,000 in that period.

However, exports to the Far East were lower, especially in Hong Kong, where they halved in value recently.

For sailing boats, British sales were lower, falling from £16.3 million to £12.6 million in the first half of this year. These figures have been adjusted to take into account some special exports in 2002 to the British Virgin Islands and, if this had not been taken into consideration, the fall would have been much steeper.

Exports of sailing boats to the US were much lower, falling from £3.5 million to £750,000 recently. Sales to Europe were mixed but were well maintained in France at over £2 million. Moreover, exports to Holland showed a useful rise to £2.2 million but those to Spain were lower, dropping from £2 million to £1.5 million in the first half of 2003.

Deliveries to Sweden, however, were significantly higher and moved up from £200,000 to £1.3 million recently.

For motorboats, British sales abroad declined markedly, amounting to £156 million compared with £172 million in the corresponding period in 2002.

Deliveries to Western Europe were significantly lower, falling from £28 million to £19 million in Spain. Sales to Italy declined from £12 million to £10 million while those to Germany were marginally lower at £11.8 million. They were slightly lower in France but a useful increase has been reported in Holland, where they doubled to £10 million.

Exports of motorboats to Gibraltar were falling markedly, amounting to £6 million between January and June 2003 as against £20 million 12 months earlier. However, exports to the US held up well and moved up from £25 million to £26 million recently.

The prospects for British exports of boats are uncertain in the short-term. World trade is slowly picking up but any marked improvement will take some time to become evident.

It is expected that world trade will rise by about 5% in 2003, which will be some improvement compared to the previous year.

However, trading conditions in the boating sector will remain difficult for sometime and a slight fall in British exports for this industry could take place in the second half of this year.

Trend for imports British imports have been holding up well and showed a significant increase during the first half of 2003, amounting to £93 million, after making some adjustments for some special imports in this period. This compared with £73 million in 2002.

British imports of motorboats advanced to £42 million in the first half of 2003 as against £36 million for the same period last year.

Sales by France to the UK doubled to £4.6 million while those from Holland went up from £465,000 to £3 million recently. Moreover, deliveries by Italy grew steadily to £4 million but those by the Scandinavian countries, especially Norway and Sweden, were under some pressure.

Exports by the USA to the UK moved up from £11 million to £13 million while those by Canada increased from £2.4 million to £3 million in this sector.

Imports of inflatables were marginally lower at £3.2 million, compared with £3.4 million 12 months earlier. Sales by China were slightly lower at £800,000 while those by the US halved in value at £170,000 recently.

However, sales by France were well maintained at nearly £400,000 while those by Portugal grew gradually to £450,000 in this period.

For sailing boats, their imports moved up to £47.5 million in the first half of 2003, following some adjustments to these figures. This compared with £34.5 million 12 months earlier.

Deliveries by France were higher at £18 million compared to £15 million 12 months earlier while sales by Germany were well maintained at over £6 million.

A steady rise in exports has been reported for sailing boats by Spain while Swedish sales also made gains, with a value of nearly £3 million. The United States has been increasing its deliveries of sailing boats to the UK significantly and their value went up from £2.3 million to nearly £5 million in 2003.

Summary It is expected that imports for leisure boats will continue to make headway in the UK in the coming months.