The euro zone's trade surplus shrank to 3.0 billion euros in August from a revised 12.8 billion euros in July and 7.2 billion euros in August 2003, European Union statistical office Eurostat said on Thursday. The surplus in August, when many European companies produce less due to the holiday season, boosted the 12-nation single currency block's trade surplus to 58.6 billion euros for the first eight months from 40.2 billion in the same period of 2003. Eurostat said that euro zone exports, seasonally adjusted, inched up 0.5 percent compared to July while imports increased by 3.4 percent.
But in non-seasonally adjusted terms, exports shrank to 85.3 billion euros in August from 100.7 billion euros in July while imports contracted to 82.3 billion euros from 87.9 billion. The scale of contraction, despite seasonal factors, could could augur ill for the euro zone's exports-driven growth, which some analysts say is harmed by the strong euro. The July trade surplus was revised to 12.8 billion euros from an earlier estimate of 12.6 billion. A breakdown showed the value of euro zone's energy imports outstripped its exports by 72.0 billion euros between January and July 2004. That compares with the 70.5 billion deficit reported for the same period a year earlier. The relatively small nominal growth could suggest that the strong euro might have offset soaring oil prices. The trade balance in manufactured goods increased to 140.2 billion euros in the first seven months of the year from 114.5 billion in the like period of 2003.///