Record set for US containerized exports

NEWARK, New Jersey: Despite a slight decline in fourth quarter exports, a new record was set in 2011 for US containerized exports.

In total, 11.9 million TEUs were handled last year. That’s up over six percent from 2010 volumes.

Shipments in the fourth quarter accounted for 3,002,088 TEUs, which amounts to a 0.2 percent year-over-year decline. This was caused mainly due to losses in the following categories:

• cotton and other fabrics, down 29 percent
• pet and animal feeds, down 12 percent
• synthetic resins, foam waste and scrap, down 12 percent
• motor vehicles, down seven percent

Broken down internationally, year-over-year exports to Northeast Asia rose one percent in the fourth quarter, and containerized exports to the Mediterranean declined for the second consecutive quarter to 136,599 TEUs.

All figures were compiled by the Port Import Export Reporting Service (PIERS) and The Journal of Commerce.