The following is a guest post from zepol.com.
3PLwire.com readers know the impact of the recession on their businesses and the decrease in freight moved over the last 12 to 18 months. Below we take a closer look at how trade has changed during this economic downturn.
Total Containerized Trade Activity Trends:
For the information above, both U.S. Census trade data and U.S. Customs AMS data were utilized to derive the trends for imports and exports. For values and weights of both imports and exports, the latest U.S. Census statistics were used while import shipments was calculated using the reported AMS Bills of Lading cleared by U.S. Customs.
The value of containerized imports tracks well with the total number import shipments. Because U.S. Customs data is about 40 days more up to date than U.S. Census data, it looks like the trend of shipments will continue to remain flat. This is obviously not good news as the end to the decline of trade is still not in sight.
While total import and export levels from August are down 31% and 26% respectively when compared to August 2008, there are still markets that are growing. Even in down markets, specific segments will continue to show strong growth. Below are the top ten import and export product groups that have grown from 2009 year to date compared with 2008 (January to August) by vessel weight.
| Import Product Groups by End Use | 2009 YTD Weight (KG) | 2008 Jan to Aug Weight (KG) | Change |
| 21600 – Laboratory testing instruments |
128,100,855 |
41,663,402 |
207% |
| 22210 – Commercial vessels, other |
7,497,848 |
2,675,592 |
180% |
| 22000 – Civilian aircraft |
1,895,816 |
1,035,276 |
83% |
| 00200 – Feedstuff and food grains |
1,526,512,114 |
1,137,746,805 |
34% |
| 50010 – Other military equipment |
51,446,196 |
38,775,171 |
33% |
| 01020 – Nonagricultural foods, etc. |
9,172,909,688 |
7,000,402,167 |
31% |
| 21320 – Semiconductors |
25,524,900 |
20,429,150 |
25% |
| 10110 – Gas-natural |
7,517,595,805 |
6,475,772,132 |
16% |
| 00100 – Meat products |
571,516,352 |
506,830,492 |
13% |
| 00010 – Cocoa beans |
274,392,130 |
243,529,426 |
13% |
|
Export Product Groups by End Use |
2009 YTD Weight (KG) | 2008 Jan to Aug Weight (KG) | Growth |
| 11100 – Crude oil |
176,769,179 |
20,079,728 |
780% |
| 22300 – Spacecraft, excluding military |
130,768 |
22,074 |
492% |
| 50000 – Military aircraft, complete |
281,587 |
58,892 |
378% |
| 11130 – Natural gas liquids |
1,478,179,952 |
554,758,953 |
166% |
| 12720 – Nonmetallic minerals |
1,210,959,032 |
641,005,676 |
89% |
| 50010 – Aircraft launching gear, parachutes, etc. |
595,607 |
340,114 |
75% |
| 01020 – Nonagricultural foods, etc. |
769,033,203 |
481,817,818 |
60% |
| 11300 – Nuclear fuel materials |
9,662,083 |
7,763,597 |
24% |
| 42100 – Gem diamonds |
312,364 |
252,083 |
24% |
| 12270 – Precious metals, other |
6,691,153 |
5,721,296 |
17% |
In this market, it is highly important to be analyzing the most recent trade information to ensure your company is targeting the right market segments. It is also important to know which verticals are shrinking. Doing this research is relatively simple and there are multiple sources available for companies to use in order to fully understand their markets.
This guest post is provided by Zepol Corporation. Kevin Palmstein is the Marketing Manager for Zepol Corporation. Zepol is the leading provider of United States trade information. Zepol’s products, TradeIQ™ and TradeView™, provide access to the latest U.S. Import Customs trade data and U.S. Import/Export Census trade statistics respectively. To learn more about Zepol, visit www.zepol.com and read their trade data blog, www.zepol.com/blog.
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