Providing an indication of an increase in industrial output, sales of electricity to industry increased by 20.3% year on year in August, after displaying weakness during the previous few months. (Demand for electricity by industry can be used as a rough proxy indicator for industrial activity; no regular industrial-output indices are published). Some sectors are performing well. For example, mining of gems and jade recorded rapid growth in the first five months of 2010/11. Production of gems rose by 27.1% year on year, while output of jade jumped by 97.6%, driven by a strong recovery in regional demand (offsetting the impact of US sanctions on gem imports from Myanmar.) However, output of many items by the state sector (figures for the private sector are not available) remained sluggish. For example, output of cement, paper, cotton fabrics, oil, paints, fertiliser and bricks all fell on a year-on-year basis in April-August. During the five-month period Myanmar's exports continued to be dominated by sales of natural resources and agricultural products-natural gas, hardwoods and pulses being the top three export earners. Overall, exports managed growth of 11.8% year on year for the five-month period, to Kt20bn, while imports rose by 7.8%, to Kt12.7bn, resulting in a healthy merchandise trade surplus.