On November 7th, Zepol completed the data for October in our U.S. Customs trade data tool,
TradeIQ. October’s results show imports increased a mere 1.88% from September. However, import levels are continuing to shrink from 2008 levels. Total shipments are down 10.63% from October 2008.
Below is a table showing the port regions of the world where shipments originated:
| Port Region |
October 2009
Shipments |
Percentage Change
over 2008 |
Percentage Change
over September 2009 |
| Asia |
534,971 |
-7.53% |
1.62% |
| Europe |
102,051 |
-24.27% |
2.31% |
Central America (includes Mexico)
|
55,395 |
-11.71% |
2.61% |
| South America |
19,408 |
-8.92% |
-3.86% |
| North America |
10,081 |
36.4% |
40.3% |
| Other |
8,329 |
2.74% |
4.78% |
| Australia |
6,262 |
-1.51% |
9.30% |
| Africa |
3,606 |
-27.66% |
13.54% |
| Total |
700,852 |
-10.63% |
1.66% |
As shown last month, international ports are coping differently with this economic climate and this is true for U.S. ports as well. As the most active port in the country, Los Angeles has kept with the nationwide trend as its imports dropped slightly more than the national average, importing 10.83% less than it did in October 2008. However, it has bucked national growth trends, growing 8.86% since September. On the other hand, its neighbor Long Beach's shipments have dropped off 12.53% compared to October 2008 and 10.52% since last month; this is the only port of the top 10 that did not experience growth last month.
Below are the top 10 ports in the U.S. by shipment count:
| Port |
October 2009
Shipments |
Percentage Change
over 2008 |
Percentage Change
over September 2009 |
| Los Angeles, CA |
158,234 |
-10.83% |
8.86% |
| Long Beach, CA |
111,543 |
-12.53% |
-10.52% |
| Newark, NJ |
67,138 |
-12.21% |
0.78% |
| South America |
21,328 |
6.3% |
17.4% |
| New York, NY |
65,981 |
1.02% |
3.60% |
| Seattle, WA |
60,490 |
13.86% |
2.24% |
| Savannah, GA |
39,182 |
-0.87% |
13.35% |
| Oakland, CA |
32,226 |
8.73% |
6.82% |
| Tacoma, WA |
30,005 |
-31.30% |
10.51% |
| Norfolk, VA |
29,546 |
-15.11% |
4.50% |
| Charleston, SC |
26,084 |
-25.51% |
5.05% |
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.