RUSSIAN demand for North-East built vehicles has helped drive record values of exports.

Figures released yesterday showed exports from the region in the last three months of 2010 totalled £3.3bn, the highest ever quarterly figure for the North East.

It was the fourth successive quarter that the value of goods exported from the region increased and came as the HM Revenue & Customs research showed that Russia was the fastest growing single market for North-East firms.

Exports to the Eastern European state increased by £531m or 275per cent last year, with a strong driver of that growth being cars, other road vehicles and transport related equipment.

Exports of machinery and transport equipment, which includes vehicles, continued to be the fastest growing sector for the North East, increasing by £2.24bn, with total exports of road vehicles from the region increasing by 55per cent to £1.4bn in 2010.

It was helped by firms such as Nissan at Sunderland, which sends around 80 per cent of its production abroad, but smaller firms also enjoying export success include Trailer-Lift at Stokesley, North Yorkshire, which was set up two years ago and employs nine people.

The firm, which manufactures trailers with a built in lifting system, appointed an export director in October and has already secured business in countries including Japan, Australia, Finland and the United States.

UK sales manager Matthew Ord said he expected up to 95 per cent of the firms business going forward would be exported.

"Most of what we do will be sold abroad. I think this business wouldnt have been as successful had we not looked to export," he said. David Coppock, UK Trade & Investments (UKTI) international trade director, believed Thai firm Sahaviriya Steel Industries (SSI) recent deal for the Teesside Cast Products steel plant, near Redcar, and Japanese train-maker Hitachi's decision to build an assembly plant at Newton Aycliffe, County Durham, were set to help the positive trends continue.

He said: "The Hitachi and SSI investments, which are excellent news, will contribute towards North-East exports going forward.

"The North-East has a very strong manufacturing base and I think we can only help in rebalancing the economy, putting new jobs back into the manufacturing area."

While there had been marked growth in exports to Europe, with Germany, the Netherlands, France and Spain all among the highest growth markets, the United States, which remains the largest single market for North East goods, had stayed stable.

Ian Williams, One North East Director of Business and Industry, said: "The North East's export strength is reflected in these figures, which are encouraging as we continue the recovery from the economic downturn. The importance of our export markets to our economic welfare can not be understated."

Jonathan Walker, policy advisor at the North East Chamber of Commerce, said: "These are really strong figures for the region, and they qualify NECC's belief that there are significant opportunities for North East businesses overseas that we must tap into if we are to see real economic growth here."

The total value of North East exports in 2010 was £11.91bn and the region retains a positive balance of payments, exporting £2.7bn more in goods than it imports.