10
October
2006
Here’s the first paragraph from a story in eCargonewsAsia:
Shipper apprehension over possible congestion at major U.S. seaports has been assuaged by a recent trade report. “The system is handling volumes that have never been seen before, thanks mainly to continued growth in the demand for Asian imports,” Global Insight economist Paul Bingham said.
Check out the article at: http://www.cargonewsasia.com/ecna/preview.aspx?article=3109
Posted: International trade, Import Export Statistics, China, Los Angeles, Savannah, Japan, Manufacturing, Maritime
25
September
2006
The fresh-cut rose importing business has long been a Miami story, with Colombia and Ecuador being the providers.
Recently, our company, WorldCity, focused one of its monthly Connections events on Africa, and learned of Africa’s increased interest in the fresh-cut flower business, something that we had written about in an earlier issue of WorldCity. Now, according to a New York Times story, China wants in on the act as well. (We had also reported on China’s nascent flower industry in that same article.)
Here’s a link to the New York Times story.
The basic points were that the industry, being developed in impoverished southwestern China, was being supported heavily from Beijing, with loans and infrastructure imporovements, and that China, not suprisingly, can undercut the cost on the global market significantly. In addition, the area where the industry is being developed is an entry point for heroin from Myanmar, and there is fear of Islamic fundamentalists becoming influential there as well.
Roses fly better than most flowers — carnations cannot be packed as tightly, for example — but do have a limited life. The most likely entry point is Los Angeles.
“Our plan is to become the biggest flower producer and exporter in Asia in 10 to 15 years,” and possibly the world’s largest after the Netherlands, the deputy chief of the Flower Association, a provincial government agency, told the New York Times.
Posted: International trade, Import Export Statistics, China, Los Angeles, Miami, Airlines, Air cargo, Flowers
22
September
2006
According to a story in the Washington Post, more than 1,100 laptop computers have vanished from the Department of Commerce since 2001, including nearly 250 from the Census Bureau containing such personal information as names, incomes and Social Security numbers. Check it out.
Most of the laptop computers in this country come from Malaysia, China, Taiwan and elsewhere, as you can see in WorldCity reporting of trade statistics.
Posted: International trade, Import Export Statistics, China, Manufacturing, Computers, Technology
5
September
2006
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce has produced an interesting report about the benefits of international trade to the U.S. business and consumer — everything from price reductions on goods we buy to job creation from increased imports.
“The facts will show,” the chamber’s president and CEO Thomas Donohue writes in an introduction, ”that while some are hurt and should be helped, the overwhelming majority of Americans derive great benefits from global engagement.”
You can take a look at it or download it by clicking here.
Posted: International trade, Import Export Statistics, Trade Deficit, China, Mexico, Manufacturing, Maritime
3
September
2006
If you’re interested in the Panama Cancel, there’s a story worth reading in the New York Times this morning on the proposed widening of the canal, which goes before a referendum next month.
If that referendum fails to pass, the implications are signficant for the global economy. The problem, of course, is that the newer ships — so called post-Panamax — can’t make it through. And bigger ships are on the way.
The Suez Canal is a widely used option for east-west trade but why I am slightly less than comfortable relying on a canal in the Middle East?
Posted: International trade, China, Miami, Manufacturing, Maritime
2
September
2006
Traffic is up at nation’s seaports for a host of reasons but one, apparently, is because the Christmas holiday season is starting a couple of months earlier, at least for the Asian manufacturers, shipping lines and U.S. seaports.
That’s one of a number of responses to avoid strains on the system like those that surfaced during the 2004 holiday season, according to an article in dcvelocity. Others include longer hours, shifting to other seaports and improving turnaround times.
One way shippers have dealt with the threat of congestion is to begin bringing their imports into the country earlier in the season,” the publicaiton reported, based on comments from Paul Bingham, a principal at consulting firm Global Insight who specializes in global trade. That trend was reflected in the most recent Port Tracker report, which predicted that August volumes would match a typical October, normally the peak shipping month of the year.
Posted: International trade, China, Los Angeles, Manufacturing
1
September
2006
Everyone knows the distintive shape of the Zippo lighter. In fact, four years ago, Zippo went so far as to trademark its design. Now it wants the International Trade Commission to help it fight knockoffs, which the company says “consume” 30 percent of its market. In its filing with the ITC, it points the finger at Chinese companies and U.S. distributors. Zippo, which was founded in 1932, in the early years of the U.S. Depression, sells more than 12 million lighters a year, and even claims a fan base that makes collectibles of them.
Posted: International trade, China, Manufacturing, Trademark
31
August
2006
Some little nuggets for your consideration …1. Deficit, deficit, deficit. It’s all you hear. But while the the United States had trade deficits with 118 nations in 2005, it had trade surpluses with 112.
2. Of course, that’s not the whole story. The record $201 billion U.S. deficit with China in 2005 was more than three times greater than the total of all those surpluses combined.
3. Canada is overwhelmingly the nation’s leading trade partner and is on course to surpass one half trillion dollars in trade in 2006, the first nation to cross the $500 billion mark.
4. The U.S. could surpass $100 billion in exports to the world in 2006, surpassing that milestone for the first time, when annual figures are released.
5. Only one of the nation’s leading Customs districts has had a trade surplus every year the last decade: Miami.
6. Los Angeles has the nation’s biggest trade deficit.
7. Many U.S. airports have trade surpluses while most seaports have deficits. That is due to the nature of their trade.
8. Houston has been the nation’s fastest-growing Customs district, in dollar terms, the last couple of years because of one thing – the rising price of oil.
9. Detroit leads the nation in exports, and surpassed $105 billion in 2005, the first Customs district to ever pass $100 billion. Detroit is the nation’s third-ranked Customs district overall, behind Los Angeles and New York.
10. China, which only recently Japan to become the United States’ No. 3 ranked trade partner, is likely to surpass Mexico and become the nation’s No. 2 trade partner when 2006 figures are released.
11. The Savannah Customs district, which includes Atlanta and the rest of Georgia, is likely to surpass Buffalo and leap into the Top 10 in 2006.
12. The United States’ second-largest trade deficit is with Canada followed by Mexico.
Posted: International trade, Import Export Statistics, Trade Deficit, China, Los Angeles, Houston, Miami, New York, Detroit, Canada, Mexico, Oil, Savannah, Atlanta, Japan
