U.S. Color Toner Exports Still Strong Despite Slight Fall

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U.S. Color Toner Exports Still Strong Despite Slight Fall Year Over Year
BY DENISE ALLABAUGH

The Scranton/Wilkes-Barre metro area saw tremendous growth in exports since 2005 and Coates Toners has seen it firsthand.

The Dallas manufacturer makes toners for laser printers, high-speed printers and copiers, exporting them to about 25 countries, including the United Kingdom, Argentina and Poland, said John Myers, vice president of sales and new product development.

Coates Toners has added three employees this year and now employs about 30 people. Exports for the company have grown about 15 percent this year compared with last year, he said.

“The growth is coming from our color toner market, which is growing globally,” Myers said.

Businesses in the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre area exported $1.33 billion in products in 2013, double the amount exported in 2005, according to recent figures from the International Trade Administration.

The U.S. market is the largest to sell toners, but it’s also the most competitive, Mr. Meyers said. The company had to expand into international markets to stay competitive, he said.

The Northeastern Pennsylvania Alliance, a regional community and economic development agency that serves seven counties in the region, assists local businesses like Coates Toners with international trade assistance and exports. Mr. Myers said the alliance helped his business get grants for travel expenses.

The alliance also hosts an event each year called “Bringing the World to Northeastern Pennsylvania.” At the most recent event held in September at Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs, 16 trade advisers from around the world met with representatives from 35 businesses to discuss how they can export and expand into international markets.

While there were about $1.33 billion in exports out of the region in 2013, the number of exports dropped slightly from $1.36 billion in 2012, according to the International Trade Administration.

That slight drop is insignificant and doesn’t reflect the overall picture, said Michael Horvath, international business development manager for Northeastern Pennsylvania Alliance.

“From what I see, companies are still reporting good sales and good exports. Some have growth and maybe some have leveled off,” Mr. Horvath said. “Overall, exports are up and the trade deficit is down. Exports still contribute to a strong U.S. economy and more employment and overall, it sounds like most companies are doing well.”

Teri Ooms, executive director of Institute for Public Policy and Economic Development agreed on the slight drop.

“The decrease does not necessarily signify a problem in our economy,” Ms. Ooms said. “It could be reflective of the supply and demand of the product itself or economic or other strife associated with the importing country.”

Exports saw a slight dip in 2009 to about $926 million and Ms. Ooms said that was primarily a result of the global recession.

There was a large rebound to $1.5 billion in 2010, another small decrease to almost 1.2 billion in 2011, another increase to nearly 1.36 billion in 2012, followed by the slight drop to about 1.33 billion exports in 2013.

“If we further evaluate the changes from 2012-2013, we see increases in exports to the European Union and Africa, with major declines in Asia, South America, and OPEC,” Ms. Ooms said. “Further, plastics and chemicals have always been our strength. There were increases in plastics, with decreases in chemicals.”

For the first time, the region saw $120 million in food product exports and a decrease of $97 million in computers and electronics.

“Given the challenges in some of those countries we can see why there is some fluctuation. That can also be seen with the nature of the products,” Ms. Ooms said. “A great takeaway, however, is the newly developed food products export market.”

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November 4, 2014 at 12:09 PM