Florida firms cash in on overseas business
Emerging boating markets in the Persian Gulf and Russia offer prime opportunities for U.S. exporters
By Lisa Hoogerwerf Knapp
Although Florida has lost businesses
to the Carolinas, where the defectors
claim to have found the business climate more appealing, remaining Florida manufacturers are exporting overseas in record numbers — marine companies among them.
Some 44,000 Florida businesses export, giving the state the second-largest
concentration of exporters in the U.S.,
with two-way trade of $115 billion, according to Enterprise Florida, Inc., a
public-private partnership that is the
state’s primary statewide economic development organization.
Total exports of ships, boats and
floating structures reached almost $800
million in 2007, an increase of 20 percent over 2006.
Powerboats accounted for 39 percent
of marine exports in 2007, an increase
of 5 percent from 2006. Recent years
have seen a shift — away from powerboats, toward vessels classified as
yachts. Yacht exports grew by 31 percent in 2007, totaling $372 million, says
Julie Balzano, director for Mexico and
special projects for Enterprise Florida’s
International Trade and Business Development Division. Balzano delivered
that message to a meeting in Miami of
Shhhhhhhh
the Marine Council and Marine Industries Association of South Florida.
Florida was the only U.S. state exhibit-ing at the Dubai International Boat
Show, with a group pavilion organized
by Enterprise Florida. The show, considered the leading recreational marine industry event in the Middle East, attracted 27,000 visitors from 100 countries.
Statistics from Enterprise Florida indicate that exports from Florida to the
United Arab Emirates have been registering annual double-digit increases.
Dubai is Florida’s 31st largest export
partner, with nearly $400 million in
products shipped there from Florida
each year.
Observers expect the show to grow
quickly, as Dubai becomes a Mideast
boating capital, with an emphasis on
megayachts. The Persian Gulf nation has
plans to add 52,000 slips to accommodate vessels of more than 35 feet that
will be added by 2011. That figure does
not include the facilities rapidly being
added in nearby Abu Dhabi and Qatar.
Florida has the second-
largest concentration
of exporters in the
United States.
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“If you’re not looking at Dubai, you
should be,” says David Nichols, a broker with International Yacht Collection. “The oil prices have made many
[in the Persian Gulf] wealthier than
they were. There is a lot of new Russian money out there and they appear
to be spending it like water [on megayachts and charters].”
The Russian market for pleasure boating is rapidly developing. Balzano says
the average annual growth in this industry sector is 25 to 30 percent, and
that U.S. pleasure boat exports to Russia in 2007 exceeded $35 million — a
25 percent increase from 2006. Russian
demand for pleasure boats makes the
future for exporting even more promising, experts say.
Germany is Florida’s 10th most important export market with more than
$1 billion in Florida products sent to
Germany in 2007, including pleasure
boats, sailboats and accessories.
“Germany currently imports more
boats than it exports … making our
products a bargain overseas,” Balzano
says. “Exporting takes a long-term commitment. China is Florida’s 21st largest
export market. It is not just the U.S.
taking imports from China. There are
550,000 new millionaires in China, and
last year the Asian nation’s show had
170 boats on display.” n
