Container cargo record at Port of New York-New Jersey

Container cargo record at Port of New York-New Jersey The business of moving containerized cargo and automobiles is booming in the Port of New York and New Jersey, but many of those containers are empty.
   The port said Tuesday that it handled a record 5.1 million TEUs of containers in 2006, 6.4 percent more than the prior year. However, only 3.65 million TEUs represented containers that contained cargo, the rest were empties.
   Still, that was a record number of loaded boxes, up 7.9 percent from the prior year. About 2.6 million loaded TEUs were imports, and about 1.1 million were exports.
   The auto trade is also up strongly at the port. The port handled 852,297 vehicles in 2006, 18 percent more than in 2005. About 81 percent of the vehicles are imports, 19 percent exports.
   Measured in a different way ' value — the port also had a good year. The port handled $149.7 billion of cargo, 13 percent more than in 2005. About $124 billion of that was containerized and other general cargoes, $25 billion was bulk commodities.
   Major exports include wood pulp such as waste paper, plastics, vehicles, paper and auto parts. Major imports include furniture, paper and paperboard, beverages, vehicles and plastics.
   China is the major trading partner of the Port of New York and New Jersey, accounting for about 23 percent of imports and exports as measured by volume, followed by Italy, India, Germany, and Brazil.