DOT statistics underscore container-shipping patterns

DOT statistics underscore container-shipping patterns U.S. container traffic more than doubled in the past decade to an estimated 46.3 million TEUs in 2006, making the nation second only to China as the largest market for containerized trade, according to the Department of Transportation.
   In 1996, 22.6 million TEUs passed through U.S. ports.
   Despite the phenomenal growth in international ocean trade, the U.S. market share dropped from 16 percent to 11 percent as world container trade more than tripled to 417 million TEUs, the department’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics said in a new report on container ports.
   One in nine maritime containers in the world are either being imported to or exported from the United States at any one time.       According to the report, inbound containers outnumbered outbound containers two-to-one, BTS said. In 1995, by contrast, imports and exports were in equilibrium. The imbalance of inbound and outbound containers is more pronounced on the West Coast than on the East Coast. The container numbers are a function of the U.S. role as the world’s biggest importer and second-biggest exporter.
   Importers continue to favor major ports with facilities large enough to handle bigger ships, large local markets and extensive transportation networks. The top 10 U.S. container ports accounted for 85 percent of U.S. containerized traffic in 2005, up from 78 percent in 1995. West Coast ports handled nearly 55 percent of all containerized trade in 2005, up from 42 percent in 1980, reflecting the growth of the Asian trade.
   During the past decade, the ports of Savannah, Los Angeles and Houston had the highest annual average growth rates in volume, reflecting shippers desire to diversify their ports of entry. From 1995 to 2005 the Port of Savannah handled 13 percent more cargo, making it the fastest-growing port in the nation, according to the BTS.
   Maritime industry workers are familiar with the growth in vessel size up to 12,000 TEUs, as carriers try to achieve ever-greater economies of scale. The report said the average size of container vessels calling at U.S. ports was nearly 45,000 deadweight tons in 2005, up from 36,800 dwt in 2000.
      Of the 26 million containers that entered the United States in 2005, 11 million were ocean containers and more than 15 million arrived by truck or rail. Import containers by all modes increased 37 percent, from 19 million, in 2000.
   To view the entire report, 'America's Container Ports: Delivering the Goods,' go to: https://www.bts.gov/publications/americas_container_ports/.