Texas remains tops in FTZ activity in 2016

The value of shipments into U.S. Foreign Trade Zones (FTZs) totaled more than $610 billion last year, down from $660 billion the previous year, according to the U.S. Foreign-Trade Zones Board’s annual report.    The value of shipments into U.S. Foreign Trade Zones (FTZs) totaled more than $610 billion in 2016, compared with nearly $660 billion the previous year, according to the U.S. Foreign-Trade Zones Board’s annual report to Congress released on Thursday.
   There are 195 active FTZs in the United States with a total of 324 active production operations. Warehouse/distribution operations received over $224 billion in merchandise during 2016, while production operations received over $386 billion, roughly 63 percent of FTZ activity. The largest industries accounting for zone production activity include the oil refining, automotive, electronics, pharmaceutical, and machinery/equipment sectors. 
   FTZ No. 21 in Dorchester County, South Carolina ranked first in the nation for the value of exports during 2016, while FTZ No. 62 at the Port of Brownsville came in second and FTZ No. 281 in Miami-Dade County, Florida is ranked third.
   South Carolina received up to $10 billion in total export value in 2016, with 54 percent of its foreign-status products by value found in vehicles and 39 percent found in vehicle parts. Florida received up to $5 billion in export value, with 30 percent of its foreign-status products by value in oil/petroleum, 20 percent in vehicles, 12 percent in machinery/equipment, and the rest in consumer electronics, consumer products and other. 
   Texas remains the leading U.S. state for FTZ activity in both merchandise and exports, with $25 billion in total export value. Over half of its foreign-status products by value are found in oil/petroleum, 22 percent in consumer electronics, and the remaining in machinery, vehicles, consumer products and other. The Port of Brownsville’s FTZ reported more than $2.8 billion in exported goods in 2016. Additionally, the zone ranked 25th nationally for the value of imports totaling more than $2.5 billion, the port said. 
   “The Port of Brownsville has made great strides in creating a sustainable economic engine,” Brownsville Navigation District Chairman John Wood said in a statement. “This ranking further demonstrates the value of the zone and the port’s overall role in transforming the Rio Grande Valley as a stable, reliable logistics platform for international trade.”