Dreamliners bolster SC’s export totals even as Charleston’s port sees dip in outgoing cargo

South Carolina’s economy is powered by businesses that make things the rest of the world wants. In 2025, one business in particular — Boeing Co. — helped the state notch its best export total in seven years.

The state Department of Commerce said this month that $38.5 billion worth of products were exported from South Carolina to foreign markets in 2025.

That’s a 1.8% increase from the previous year and the best figure since 2018, when $41.5 billion worth of goods left the state.

“South Carolina’s strong export sales last year demonstrate the strength of our economy and the power of our advanced manufacturing sector,” Commerce Secretary Harry Lightsey said in a written statement. He added: “International trade remains a cornerstone of the state’s growth and development.”

The numbers are based on data compiled by the U.S. Census Bureau.

Those figures also show South Carolina carried a $17.7 billion trade deficit in 2025, importing more goods than it sent out. However, that was down from a $20 billion deficit the previous year.

While retaliatory tariffs and global trade uncertainties led to overall declines in outbound cargo at the Port of Charleston, Boeing — which builds the 787 Dreamliner commercial plane in North Charleston — fueled a 31% growth in aerospace exports to push the Palmetto State’s overall numbers forward.

Boeing delivered 88 Dreamliners in 2025, including 63 of the wide-body jets to foreign carriers.

The overall delivery total was up from 51 Dreamliners in 2024.

All told, aerospace exports, primarily Boeing deliveries, totaled more than $8.1 billion in 2025.

Boeing did not respond to questions about its export statistics, but the company is confident enough in future Dreamliner orders that it is spending $1 billion on a second assembly facility next to its Lowcountry site.

“We continue to see strong demand for the 787 Dreamliner family and its market-leading efficiency and versatility,” Stephanie Pope, president and CEO of Boeing Commercial Airplanes, said in a written statement. “We are making this significant investment to ensure Boeing is ready to meet our customers’ needs in the years and decades ahead.”

Boeing exports its South Carolina-made jets from a delivery center adjacent to its assembly building in North Charleston.

Last year, Qatar Airways took delivery of seven Dreamliners and Taiwan’s EVA Air received five more, propelling those countries into the Palmetto State’s top 10 export partners.

Most other exports leave the Palmetto State through the Port of Charleston.

That facility saw a 3.6% decline in loaded export containers last year and an 8.8% drop in exported vehicles.

Even with the decline, those vehicles — primarily BMWs produced at the German automaker’s Spartanburg County plant — continue to play an oversized role in the state’s export story.

Nearly 200,000 BMW X-model SUVs with a value of $9 billion were sent to foreign markets in 2025, making the automaker the nation’s largest vehicle exporter by dollar value.

It’s “a distinction that underscores our commitment to both the state of South Carolina and the nation’s economic strength,” Robert Engelhorn, president and CEO of BMW Manufacturing, said in a statement.

“Our exports play a crucial role in supporting a favorable balance of trade, which is essential for sustained economic growth,” he added.

The aerospace and vehicles categories represent nearly 60% of the dollar value of all South Carolina exports.

Other export bright spots included vehicle tires, with sales reaching $2 billion for 43% of the U.S. market share.

South Carolina tire manufacturers, including Goodyear and Michelin, notched a 7% year-over-year increase in exports.

Several of the port’s top export commodities, however, saw little or no growth last year or reported declines.

Exports of chemicals, such as plastic pellets that can be used in thousands of consumer products, were down 8.5%, according to Census Bureau data. Electrical equipment saw a 3% decline, while food exports were off by 6.4%.

“Exports out of the U.S. have been challenged recently, especially out of the South Atlantic, where there’s a lot of forest products and lower-margin exports that have been hit by tariffs,” said Micah Mallace, president and CEO of the S.C. State Ports Authority, which owns and operates the Port of Charleston.

Mallace said his key goal is to increase cargo moving through the port.

To that end, he is looking for more opportunities like a recent deal with Charleston-based Harbor Logistics to open a soybean transloading facility that will send the state’s top agricultural product to foreign markets.

“We’re being really intentional about finding those, not just the headline opportunities, but digging deeper to where there is an unexpected opportunity we can deliver on,” he said. “We are looking for new export markets and commodities where there is potential growth due to either trade agreements or commodities not affected as much by tariffs.”

Mallace said the shipping lines that call on the port are looking for more exported goods to help balance the increase in imports the state has seen.

“They want to see plenty of imports matched with plenty of exports,” he said.

South Carolina exports reached 198 countries and territories.

Germany maintained its status as the state’s leading export partner, with $5.1 billion in goods going to that country. That represents a 3.5% year-over-year increase. Mexico and Canada were South Carolina’s next-biggest export customers.