Gov. Joe Manchin mentioned the record exports in his State of the State speech. "We're shipping more West Virginia-made products around the globe than ever," he said, noting that the state's 41 percent increase far outpaced the national growth rate of 12 percent.

Most of last year's increase was coal, said Debra Martin, the state development office's manager of international trade. West Virginia exported coal valued at $2.2 billion last year, up 155 percent from the $910 million worth of coal exported in 2007. "Coal is easily at an all-time high," she said.

Companies around the world paid record prices last year for the state's metallurgical coal, which is used in steelmaking.

The state's top five markets for coal last year, in order of sales volume: India, France, Brazil, Egypt and the United Kingdom.

"Coal accounts for 39 percent of our exports, which is a big chunk but is not the majority by any stretch," Martin said. Plastics account for another 17 percent, or $981 million; machinery is 12 percent or $664 million; and chemical products (organic chemicals plus miscellaneous chemical products) are 6 percent or $355 million. Coal is dominant but our economy is pretty diverse."

Coal wasn't the only export star last year. Machinery exports were up 32 percent, to $664 million. The state's top markets were Canada, Germany, Australia, South Africa and China. "Note that Australia, South Africa and China are top mining countries - not only coal mining but all kinds of mineral mining," Martin said.

The Commerce Department's coding makes it almost impossible to tell exactly what kinds of machinery were exported although "when I break it down it tells me piston engines, internal combustion," Martin said. "The second category is engine parts. The third category is gas turbines. The fourth is 'other moving machines.' When I break that down I see coal/rock cutters; other moving and grading machines; mineral-sorting equipment; weighing and weights; pumps."

It is difficult to say how many West Virginia jobs rely on exports. The U.S. Department of Commerce has estimated that every $1 billion in exports creates 15,000 jobs.

Martin said the number of jobs created may vary widely by industry. "We don't know if $1 billion of coal exports relates to the same number of jobs as $1 billion of a manufactured product would," she said.

Also, the numbers are imperfect, Martin said. That's because they're based on the paperwork companies fill out when they sell their product. "A company might be selling their product to a buyer in Virginia and that company exports it," Martin said. "That doesn't count as a West Virginia export, even though it is.

"We find that what often happens with wood products companies is, instead of having an agent in China or Vietnam, the agent will be in the United States. The agent buys the West Virginia product, consolidates it in a port and then exports it. That doesn't get counted as a West Virginia export either. There's no way to know how much is under- and over-reported."

Plastics, which were the state's top export in 2007, were down slightly to $981 million last year. Chemicals were up 6 percent. Aluminum was down 8 percent, to $162 million.

It is widely believed that exports will be down this year. The global recession has cooled demand for steel and, therefore, the demand for metallurgical coal is down.

South Charleston native Thomas Hoaglin, who retired last month as president and chief executive officer of Huntington National Bank, said earlier this month that the national economy is grim.

"Exports have been a bright part of the economy. That is gone. There's very weak global demand," he said at the 17th Annual Groundhog Breakfast and Economic Forecast in South Charleston.

Another factor weighing against West Virginia exports: the dollar has strengthened against both the Japanese Yen and the European Union's euro.

Martin said, "We really can't make predictions. We don't know what's going to happen with the world economy or exports in general. We believe that our companies are not going to be immune to the volatility in the global economy but if a company has the right product in the right industry and they're targeting the right market, then the business will still be there."

Although the dollar has gained strength, "historically it is still very competitive for exports," Martin said. "Another factor in how competitive our products are is the price of shipping goods. Because oil prices have dropped that makes shipping cheaper."

"I want to add that regardless of what happens in the bigger picture of what's going on in the global economy, our office is still providing services to small- and medium-size companies in West Virginia," Martin said. "We don't react to booms and busts in any particular market. Our objective is to help companies establish long-term objectives so they can have the flexibility to respond to what might be happening domestically by increasing their overseas sales."

Manchin visited Japan in 2005, Germany and Italy in 2006, and Canada and China in 2007.

While in China, Manchin visited the China Coal & Mining Exhibition in Beijing. The state has been a regular exhibitor at the show since it was established in 1999. The show is held every two years. Martin said the state will have a presence at the show again this year. "That's traditionally been a good event for our companies - they've gotten a lot of results out of it," she said.

The development office has a trade mission to Canada planned in June. "Although Canada is our top export market, we believe there are some small- and medium-size companies that either are not there yet or could be increasing their sales through our assistance," Martin said.

The development office gets export data twice a year. The next snapshot, with information on the first half of 2009, will be available in August.

Contact writer George Hohmann at busin...@dailymail.com or 304-348-4836.