State exports rise

California exported approximately $15.8 billion in goods in May, a 5.4 percent increase from exactly one year earlier, according to a recent study.

The state’s share of U.S. merchandise exports in the fifth month of the year was 9.1 percent, essentially unchanged year-over-year, Los Angeles-based Beacon Economics reported.

During May 2019, one year before the pandemic, that number was 10.8 percent.

Exports of products made in California increased 2.7 percent in May, to $9.955 billion. At the same time, the state’s exports of agricultural products and raw materials were up 6.8 percent, to $2.016 billion.

Re-exports increased 12.3 percent, to $3.8 billion, from May 2023’s $3.4 billion.

“California’s export trade rose in May despite the strong dollar, a 54.2 percent all-off in foreign shipments of electric vehicles, and the plunging value of the state’s exports of petroleum products,” said Jock O’Connell, Beacon’s international trade advisor, in a statement.
Beacon’s monthly export report is based on data provided by the U.S. Census Bureau’s foreign trade division.