Minnesota's exports fall $1 billion in second quarter

Minnesota's exports fell by about $1 billion in the second quarter as the coronavirus pandemic led to a major slowdown in the global movement of goods, state economic officials said Friday.

But the nation as a whole saw a bigger drop-off, with Minnesota exports falling 18% during April, May and June, compared with a plunge of 30% for the nation in the same time period.

The state's sales of agriculture, mining and manufacturing exports in the period came in at $4.6 billion, the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED) said in a report released Friday.

The biggest drop-offs, of 30% or more, were in state exports to the Australia-Pacific region, the Middle East and Africa. That was followed by a 24% decline to other parts of North America, the European Union and Central and South America.

State exports to Asia fell 6%, but there were some parts of that region that saw export growth such as Taiwan (up 56%), Malaysia (up 46%) and Vietnam (up 21%).

Canada ($1 billion) and China ($648 million) remained the state's two largest export markets in the second quarter. But Mexico ($355 million) saw a 40% drop and so fell to become the state's fourth-largest market, surpassed by Japan ($427 million).

The states's top exports saw widespread declines, including optics and medical exports, which were down 22%, machinery, down 21%, electrical equipment, down 30%, and plastics, down 6%. Pharmaceuticals, aircraft and food by-products also saw significant declines.

Some categories saw growth, however, such as exports of ore, slag and ash, which rose 11%, mineral fuels and oils, which skyrocketed 482%, and meat, which was up 54%.

The state experienced an even steeper decline in exports during the Great Recession, when exports shrank as much as 23%.

In 2019, Minnesota ranked 21st among the 50 states for the amount of its exports.