Finnish boat exports grow strongly in 2016

The exports of Finnish boat industry were on a dramatic rise in the first half of this year, reported Finnish news agency STT on Thursday.

According to Finnboat, the Finnish Marine Industry Federation, the value of the Finnish boat exports in the first half of this year surged by 68 percent on a year-on-year basis. The value amounted to more than 125 million euros.

The number of exported boats increased significantly by 53 percent compared with the same period last year. Based on the statistics from Finnish Customs, more than 6,500 ships were sold abroad in the first half of this year.

The strong growth was driven mainly by the successful trade in the major markets in Sweden and Norway, explained the federation.

Meanwhile, the boat sales in the domestic market in the first half of 2016 remained roughly at last year's level, due to the stagnant economic situation in Finland.

Jouko Huju, managing director of Finnboat, said that the export has been on the upswing for several years.

The shipbuilding is one of the major industries in Finland. The total turnover of the industry in 2015 was about 488 million euros, of which 240 million was from the exports. (1 euro = 1.13 U.S. dollars) Endit