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The Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater region has some muscle in Florida, and nationwide, in exporting goods and merchandise.
The region exported $6.7 billion in merchandise last year, according to a new U.S. Commerce Department report, good for 43rd in the nation among all metro areas. That tally, the report adds, counts 3,800 businesses in the area that sold something overseas in 2013, which covers 11% of all Florida exports.
Countries that bought goods from companies in the region range from Mexico and Canada to Brazil and China. Sectors with the highest export market share, the report states, include computers and electronics; chemicals; and transportation equipment. Pinellas County, with $3.5 billion in exported goods, and Hillsborough County, at $3.1 billion, were the clear leaders in the four-county region.
While the report doesn't break out individual companies, giant firms like Clearwater-based Tech Data and St. Petersburg-based Jabil Circuit are most likely big contributors. Tech Data, with $26.8 billion in 2013 sales, and Jabil, with $18.3 billion, are by far the largest firms on the Gulf Coast in revenues, and both have large overseas operations.
One aspect of the report isn't a surprise: The Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach metropolitan area, with a booming international population and its overseas connections, is an export behemoth at $41.8 billion in goods in 2013. That's the seventh highest total in the nation, and one of 10 areas to exceed $25 billion.
“This new research demonstrates that exports continue to drive our economic growth and create jobs,” U.S. Undersecretary of Commerce for International Trade Stefan Selig says in a release. “The Department of Commerce is dedicated to assisting U.S. firms in meeting the needs of global consumers while strengthening our economy and supporting jobs in cities and towns across Florida and our nation.”
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