The U.S. Census Bureau released its Merchandise Trade data numbers on February 11th for December 2010. The Merchandise Trade balance increased 6.4% over last December and fell 11.6% from the previous month. Imports dropped 1.5% from November and gained 14.3% over last year, while exports rose by 3.6% from the previous month and 17.9% over December 2009.

Below is an in-depth breakdown of the U.S. Census Merchandise Trade data. This month we have highlighted 5 interesting items that we found while looking at December's data; here are the highlights:

1. Trade protectionism will rise
2. The supply of containers could impact exports more than increased manufacturing
3. Concentration of imports shifting to ports East of the Panama Canal
4. Inflationary pressures on the dollar could tamp down both import and export growth
5. Housing could still be the anchor dragging the U.S. back to another recession
   

Click here for Zepol's U.S. Census Merchandise Trade Data Update for December 2010

At Zepol, we have a saying, ‘Who doesn’t like new business?’, and I can’t think of a company that would disagree. Many of Zepol’s customers use our trade data tools, TradeIQ™ and TradeView™, as resources for finding new business or discovering where to look for new business.

Some of Zepol’s customer base is comprised of NVOCCs, freight forwarders, and carriers. Transportation service providers use TradeIQ™ to find lists of importers by company location, trade lanes or carriers used, or products imported. Not only do transportation companies discover new sales leads, but they also keep tabs on their current customers to ensure their competitors are not taking any business away.

Importers and suppliers use TradeIQ™ to find other importers of the products they import or manufacture. If a company is importing a partial container once a quarter, it may be more cost effective for them to source domestically. With a simple product search, companies are able to find these opportunities.

Zepol’s customers utilize TradeView™ to learn where to find new sales opportunities. U.S. exporters search for product codes to see which countries are importing the products they sell. Although the importing company names are not available, knowing which countries are actually importing how much product is incredibly valuable.

If you have any questions regarding TradeIQ™ or TradeView™, please don’t hesitate to contact Zepol at 612-435-2191.

On February 6th, we completed the data for January 2011 in our U.S. Customs trade data tool, TradeIQ. Total shipments in January rose by 7.69% from December, and grew 17.62% over the previous year. Imports from Asia rebounded to show strong year-over-year totals as importers prepared for the lunar New Year.

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

As the New Year begins, there is a lot of hope in the container shipping industry that normalcy will return. However, the uncertainty in Egypt and industry shifts from the Great Recession will have an effect on the industry for years to come.

Over the next year, two issues will likely reign supreme:

1. Importers choosing NVOs over VOCCs to book and handle their cargo
2. The continued shift of Asian origin cargo to ports East of the Panama Canal

Below is the trend of the last thirteen months showing total TEU volume and shipments as seen in Zepol's monthly containerized import press releases:

Methodology:

Zepol's data is derived from Bills of Lading entered into the Automated Manifest System. This information represents the number of House manifests entered by importers of waterborne containerized goods. This is the earliest indicator for trade data available for the previous month’s import activity. The data excludes shipments from empty containers, excludes shipments labeled as freight remaining on board, and may contain other data anomalies.

As the world watches, the political unrest in Egypt intensifies; the trade community wonders how this will affect global trade. Even though Egypt is not a major exporting country, it is a very important passageway for products from the Middle East and Asia to Europe and the Americas. The Suez Canal and Sumed pipeline are the most significant means of transporting goods from the Indian Sea to the Mediterranean.

If the canal and pipeline were to shut down due to the political unrest, rip tides would be felt throughout the trade community as well as consumers worldwide. Cargo ships would have to take a longer route around Africa and spend additional time and fuel in order to reach their destination. Already high oil prices would increase even more because of the extra transportation costs associated with the inability to use the Sumed pipeline. When oil prices rise, as we know, the economy struggles. European countries would especially suffer.

Furthermore, the political unrest is not isolated in Egypt; other countries in the Mideast and North Africa are gaining ground and emulating the protests in Egypt. The already volatile area around Somalia could become even more impassible as chaos and uncertainty ensue. With such an interconnected world, events that seem so far-off will be felt very near.