In December, industrial production rose 2.4 percent and manufacturing exports rose 10.2 percent over the period a year earlier.

Second, the manufacturing exports which had maintained the trade through the docks dwindled and moved away from the local area.

As the dollar has fallen over the last year, overall manufacturing exports have recovered.

The fall was the result of more manufacturing exports, lower oil prices and a shrinking demand for imports.

Today, more than 25 percent of the state's manufacturing exports are defense products, a state task force reported in May.

The higher oil prices made up for stagnant manufacturing exports, which dipped 0.4 percent in 2003.

More important, it means no devaluation of the pound, a step some fear Labor might take to stimulate manufacturing exports and the economy.

The Thai economy has been booming for years, with growth projected at more than 8 percent in 1995 on the basis of strong agricultural and manufacturing exports.

The high dollar greatly raised world prices for the nation's manufacturing exports, but record trade deficits only partly offset other fast-growing components of G.D.P.

There will also be painful adjustments, however, as swelling volumes of new Chinese manufacturing exports displace less efficient Latin American competitors.