March 9, 2006
Wisconsin State Journal

Wisconsin's manufacturers and growers sold a record $14.9 billion of goods to other countries last year, a 17.5 percent increase over 2004.

Industrial machinery was the top export product, followed by medical instruments, according to a state Department of Commerce report released Wednesday. The biggest demand for Wisconsin products came from North America and Asia.
"Asia is a growing market for us," said Roger Durst, executive vice president of Bruker AXS, a Fitchburg company whose its specialized X-ray instruments, sold worldwide, help determine the composition and atomic structure of substances.

"China is one of our biggest growing areas; India is also a fairly strong market for us," Durst said. "I think both countries are really investing significantly in their scientific infrastructure."
Canada was the top purchaser of Wisconsin products, at more than $5 billion in 2005. The top five was rounded out by Mexico, Japan, China and the United Kingdom.

"The (decreased) value of a dollar has been very helpful" for Wisconsin companies, particularly in Europe, said Mary Regel, administrator of the Department of Commerce's Division of International and Exports Services.

The increase in orders also shows the global economy is improving, she said.

Purchasers in 201 countries bought Wisconsin products last year, the Commerce Department report showed, from Vatican City and the Marshall Islands -- which each bought less than $15,000 worth of state goods -- to much bigger trading partners such as Australia, Italy and Saudi Arabia.
"Some of the countries in the Middle East have real growth potential," Regel said.

Regel also credited Gov. Jim Doyle's five trade missions over the past two years with increasing the state's visibility abroad. She said another trade trip, to Australia, is planned in May.

Exporting Wisconsin
The top foreign purchasers of Wisconsin products, in billions of dollars: