Zepol has compiled a new report illustrating imports and exports for the U.S. Citrus industry. We derived all of this information from our trade data tools, TradeIQ and TradeView.

Each citrus HTS Code is profiled with the following information:

• 2009 import and export trends
• 2009 total value
• 2008 total value
• Change from 2008 to 2009
• Number of import or export records recorded by U.S. Customs
• Top countries of origin and destination
• Top U.S. Customs districts
• Key consignees

In addition, lists of the following are provided for all imports and exports under HTS Code: 0805:

• Important statistics for each import and export 10-digit HTS Code
• Key import consignees
• Key import suppliers
• Top U.S. ports for imports and exports of citrus products
• Top countries of origin and destination

To download this report, please click this link.

Zepol is pleased to provide this information to the public for the first time. Unlike other reports, this information is derived completely from information collected by U.S. Customs and Border Protection and the U.S. Census Bureau. Please let us know if you have any questions about the methodology or information reported in this report by filling out our Contact Me form.

Last week was filled with news regarding coal mining accidents in both China and West Virginia in the United States. For many, mining is an industry of the last century and not one that fits in the economy of 2010. In reality, it is an industry that drives much of the world’s energy production. Coal is the fuel that powers iPads, Blackberries, and servers of the new economy.

The accident in West Virginia occured at a Met Coal mine. This type of coal is of a very high quality, which is used in the production of iron ore to produce the steel that is incorporated in everything from sky scrapers in Dubai to the frames of Toyota Prius' in California.

In 2009, the United States exported over $1.36 billion via ocean vessel of Met Coal (HTS – 2701.12.0050) to countries around the world. Below is a pie chart of the countries that the U.S. exports this type of coal to:



While exports for HTS – 2701.12.0050 reduced 23% by vessel value and 31% by vessel weight, this is still a very important export industry for the United States, ranking 99th in total value for all U.S. export HTS Codes for 2009. For more information about other energy related HTS Codes, please visit HTS - 27. 

On April 3rd, we completed the data for March in our U.S. Customs trade data tool, TradeIQ. March continued February's import winning streak by besting March of 2009 by 9.81% and growing 8.55% over February 2010.

Below is a table showing port regions of the world where shipments originated:

Continued increases over 2009 are encouraging for the U.S. trade economy, otherwise February could have been considered a blip because of its historically low performance in 2009. By increasing nearly 10% over March 2009, last month's trade is good news for U.S. businesses. Only time will tell if this surge in activity is attributed to consumer activity or businesses restocking their lean inventories.

During the recovery, Europe has lagged behind Asia and this was once again seen in the import data for March. Asian origin shipments outpaced European imports 11.06% compared to 6.76% over March 2009. To look closer at the ports of Europe, we have listed the top 10 ports by number of shipments to the United States (last port of departure before reaching a U.S. port).

Below are the top 10 European Ports by shipment count:
The collection methods used by U.S. Customs for AMS data can lead to an overstatement of shipments for some ports as imports and exports from Prince Rupert and Vancouver are often recorded as imports for the U.S. Moreover, it does include shipments from empty containers, may overstate totals from transshipments, and include other data anomalies.

Zepol's U.S. Customs trade data is taken from Bills of Lading entered into the Automated Manifest System. The information represents the number of House manifests entered by importers of waterborne containerized goods. This indicator is the earliest data available for the previous month’s trade activity.