The government of China, General Administration of Customs, via the state-controlled Xinhua news, has released data covering its exports of all types of bearings, for October 2008.

China's state-volunteered export data is notoriously inaccurate, tending to dramatically understate both the quantity and value. Although the specific numbers may be suspect, the data does offer insight to general trends in volume, growth, and pricing which have proven valuable in terms of general industry analysis.

Export data for October 2008
258,040,000 bearings
total value USD	$176.6 million
average value USD	$0.684
Compared to September 2008
280,630,000 bearings
total value USD	$195.3 million
average value USD	$0.695

As the export data mounts, it appears the global economic slowdown is in fact impacting bearing manufacturing across China.

Although there is some seasonality apparent in the bearing export data supplied, China's third quarter bearing exports have dropped more sharply than in previous years.

July	324 million bearings
August	312 million
September	281 million
October	258 million

For the calendar year through October, China said it has exported just over 2.9 billion bearings, valued at $1.75 billion -- up from 2.7 billion in 2007 worth $1.25 billion.

As 2008 has gone on, China's bearing export growth has been slowing. Through June, exports were up 15% over 2007, dropping to 14% through July, 13% through August, 11% through September, and now just under 10% through October.