As rebel forces advance to the capital city Tripoli, supporters are counting down what looks to be the last days of a 41-year regime in Libya. Since the uprising began in February, the divided nation has seen immense bloodshed, chaos, and an overall disruption in their economy.

In relation to the U.S., the oil-rich nation is a contributing supplier to the U.S. market. In fact, about 45% of all imports from Libya are oil. The graph below illustrates the trade balance trend with Libya which shows both imports and exports dipping in recent months. April and May of this year exhibited very low import levels because control of key oil towns was in transition. As the changeover progresses, oil production and economic order will slowly return. However, it will be a long road ahead for a nation that has already endured so much.

Users of Zepol’s trade intelligence tool, TradeIQ™, have a competitive edge when it comes to finding the right supplier that matches their requirements. TradeIQ™ puts users ahead of the competition by allowing them to see their industry’s top suppliers, who they are supplying to, what products they are supplying, and their competitors. By monitoring this data on an ongoing basis, TradeIQ™ empowers users to make important decisions and keeps them up-to-date. Learn how Zepol can help your company find new suppliers by watching this short video.

The U.S. Census Bureau released its Merchandise Trade data numbers on August 11th for June 2011. The Merchandise Trade balance widened from a deficit of $64.3 billion in May to a deficit of $69.5 billion in June.

Below is an in-depth breakdown of the U.S. Census Merchandise Trade data. This month we have highlighted 3 interesting items that we found while looking at June's data; here are the highlights:

1. Imports Climb
   
2. Exports Lag
   
3. Trade with Vietnam

Click here for Zepol's U.S. Census Merchandise Trade Data Update for June 2011

On August 10th, we completed the data upload for July, 2011 in our U.S. Customs trade data tool, TradeIQ™. Total shipments in July increased 3.49% from June, but decreased more than 3% from July of 2010. Year to date, total TEUs are up 3.30% this year over last year.

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