Major losses were mostly seen in fabrics, including raw cotton (-29%) and pet & animal feeds (-12%).  Other losses were seen in synthetic resins (-12%), foam waste & scrap (-12%), and motor vehicles (-7%).  Offsetting part of the losses were two major reefer goods: meat (+36%), and poultry (+28%). Other gains were seen in logs & lumber (+13%), waste paper (+2%), mixed metal scrap (+11%), and soybeans & products (+14%).

On a regional level, exports to Northeast Asia rose by the most, up by 1% Y-o-Y, mostly driven by gains in meat, wood pulp, and logs & lumber. This growth rate, however, makes for a sharp deceleration from Q3 which saw Y-o-Y gains of 12%. Outbound shipments to Africa also showed solid gains, up 24%. On the downside, exports to Northern Europe dropped 6% after a sharp deceleration in Q3. Exports to the Mediterranean declined for a second consecutive quarter to -9% Y-o-Y as the sharp deceleration of manufacturing activity in the region spurred losses in demand for paper & paperboard, PVC resins, and fabrics including raw cotton. As expected Westbound Trans-pacific trade decelerated markedly –– to 0.8% in Q4 from 11.4% in Q3, to a total of 1,707,425 TEUs.

On a country level, exports to top market China gained the most volume led mainly by increases in shipments of logs & lumber, waste paper, and meat. Exports to China rose just 3% (down from a 13% expansion in Q3). Other gains were seen in shipments to Taiwan (+5%), Saudi Arabia (+22%), and Vietnam (+12%). On the downside, exports to Hong Kong and Brazil declined by the most, down 14% each in the quarter.

Mario Moreno, PIERS/JOC Economist, concluded, “Overall containerized exports advanced 6% in 2011 to a total of 11,929,550 TEUs, and reached a new high. Actual fourth quarter figures confirmed what I had suspected and what led me to downgrade my 2012 export forecasts in early December: declining economic activity in Europe will have an adverse impact on U.S. container exports growth. Meanwhile, the dollar will keep the gains against the euro until all European fiscal uncertainties have cleared.”

PIERS is the only source for transaction-level U.S. export data. PIERS staff reporters cover every major U.S. port, collecting and processing over 300,000 export Bills of Lading each month to give our customers a complete view of U.S. trade. To learn more about PIERS export data, visit www.piers.com/USExports.

The transportation section of the budget is actually a 39.4 percent decrease since 2012, but still aims to spend around $50 billion for roads, bridges, transit systems, border crossing railways and runways in the current fiscal year to spur job creation. The key difference is that last year’s budget, while citing a larger allocation, didn’t include proposals to pay for transportation investments and it is predicted the House and Senate will struggle again to find money to pay for these projects.

Reports from last week describe a 15.6% in funding for the Department of Commerce, with $9.2 billion going toward initiatives to make U.S. manufacturers more competitive in the global marketplace. The budget would provide $708 million for the National Institute of Standards and Technology Laboratories to increase competitive offerings and $517 million will go to the International Trade Administration to promote U.S. exports in key markets abroad and to improve trade enforcement.

Pointing to an even greater focus on China, Obama also requested $26 million and at least 50 people for a new panel to investigate unfair trade practices by nations including China, according to Bloomberg. The funds would go to establish an Interagency Trade Enforcement Center that would monitor and enforce trade agreements and laws. The president first announced his intention to create the panel, which would include lawyers, researchers, analysts and agents supported by the Commerce Department and U.S. Trade Representative, in the State of the Union speech.

It remains to be seen how these plans are implemented, but as the year develops, it will be important to keep an eye on any changes in transportation and manufacturing practices both domestically and internationally. PIERS product solutions offer the most comprehensive and customizable intelligence sources to help you predict market changes and formulate plans for your business. Learn more about our product solutions by visiting www.piers.com/usexports today.

The National Export Initiative outlined a plan that would grow U.S. exports to $3.14 trillion annually by 2015, but how exactly does the Obama Administration plan to achieve this?  We’ve reviewed the 62-page document outlined in the Export Promotion Cabinet’s Report to the President on the National Export Initiative to give you a high level overview of what’s being done…

Who’s involved?

The Export Promotion Cabinet consists of:

• Secretary of State
• Secretary of the Treasury
• Secretary of Agriculture
• Secretary of Commerce
• Secretary of Labor
• Secretary of Energy
• Secretary of Transportation
• Director of the Office of Management and Budget
• United States Trade Representative
• Assistant to the President for Economic Policy
• National Security Advisor
• Chair of the Council of Economic Advisers
• President of the Export-Import Bank of the United States
• Administrator of the Small Business Administration
• President of the Overseas Private Investment Corporation
• Director of the United States Trade and Development Agency

What are the goals?

1. Improve advocacy and trade promotion efforts on behalf of U.S. exporters
2. Increase access to export financing, so good opportunities do not fall through due to the inability to finance an export.
3. Reinforce efforts to remove barriers to trade, so as many markets as possible are open to U.S. products.
4. Enforce trade rules, to make sure our trade partners live up to their obligations.
5. Pursue policies at the global level to promote strong, sustainable, and balanced growth, so the world economy grows and our exports have robust markets.

How does the NEI plan to achieve these goals?

The NEI Executive Order has outlined 8 priorities that they deem as critical in achieving the 5 goals or components of the NEI.

1. Facilitate exports by small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) by identifying SMEs which can benefit from exporting and providing them with the tools they need to continually gain access to foreign markets.
2. Improve the federal government’s core trade promotion programs to create opportunities for U.S. sellers to meet with foreign buyers.
3. Increasing the number of trade and reverse trade missions
4. Commercial advocacy
5. Increasing access to export financing by making more credit available to exporters, increasing the awareness of Government assistance, and streamlining the applications process.
6. Work with G-20 partners to maintain a healthy global economy that provides ample opportunities for U.S. exports.
7. Reducing barriers to trade to open new markets to U.S. exporters through free trade agreements and other U.S. trade policy tools vital for obtaining enhanced market access.
8. Build on the efforts outlined in 1-7 with an enhanced focus on the services sector.

How do we measure how we’re doing?

Since the launch of the National Export Initiative in 2010, U.S. exports have been steadily increasing, but by how much depends largely on what data you’re looking at. Publicly available census data is good for a high-level aggregate view of U.S. exports as a whole, but it lacks the granularity and in-depth view provided by PIERS transactional data.

From January 2010 to December 2011the U.S. Census Bureau shows total exports increasing by 19.7% to $178.7 billion, while over the same period PIERS Containerized Waterborne Data shows exports expanding by only 13.2% to 1.02 million TEUs. For most people the distinction between export value in dollars vs. export volume in TEUs is not something of interest, but to us in the transportation industry this can be an important distinction to make.

PIERS is the only company that gathers detailed U.S. export data at the ports for every shipment. Organizations can use this data to find U.S. exporters, identify growing markets and learn what commodities companies are exporting.

To learn more about the unique advantages of using PIERS U.S. Export Data visit www.piers.com/usexports and check out our new interactive graph that shows actual monthly values for PIERS TEU volume and U.S. Census data as well as projected values to reach the National Export Initiative’s goal.

Declining new-home sales were balanced by increases in movement of existing properties, which supported a 5% upswing in U.S. furniture imports. Growth in the manufacturing sector also pushed auto parts imports up 19%, driving December increases in imports from Germany and Mexico. Requests for the import or return of empty containers, for U.S. export and domestic use, rose by 264%.

“The overall economy continues to recover in a stubbornly slow fashion, which makes it highly vulnerable to shocks,” Moreno said. “The auto industry cannot by itself sustain the import trade, but a steady, self-sustained recovery in home sales is decidedly required to support growth going forward.” Moreno’s 2012 container imports forecast remains cautiously at 2.5 to 3.5%, despite fourth quarter data above his earlier predictions.

On a month-over-month basis, overall U.S. containerized imports fell 11.7% in December. A full analysis of the JOC/PIERS findings is available online, or to learn more about PIERS Data visit www.piers.com.

This got us wondering – what else can you do with recycled containers? Apparently, container buildings have become more prominent in recent years as green building innovations have emerged. Check out some other ways containers are being used for.

Container Homes
The Daily Green reports that container architecture is taking the world by storm. Recycled freight containers bring efficiency, flexibility and affordability to innovative green buildings, from small vacation cabins to movable cafes, schools and skyscrapers. This apartment building (below) is a prime example.

More Commercial Spaces
This restaurant in Paris below in mixes elegance with an industrial feel. It is a part of an overall campus designed by French architect Jean Nouvel for Seguin Island in western Paris. The recently completed complex includes a giant greenhouse and restaurant called Les Grandes Tables.

Works of Art
Inhabitat.com reported on this unusual CargoGuitar, which is the product of an artistic collaboration from the Kobe Biennale in Japan, which converts a cargo container into an enormous, playable guitar. Artists Marcelo Ertorteguy, Takahiro Fukuda, and Sara Valente created this immersive sound experience that allows visitors to feel and see what it is like inside a giant guitar.

What other examples of green practices in the transportation industry have you seen? Let us know by joining the conversation on Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn!

To support ARC’s effort, two key trade intelligence solutions from PIERS, PIERS Prospects™ and PIERS StatsPlus™ are being implemented across 10 of the 13 member states. Utilizing PIERS Prospects, participating ARC member states will gain access to actionable intelligence that combines company profiles from Dun & Bradstreet with the granularity and richness of data from export Bills of Lading. This data will allow each state to focus their programs and marketing around companies within their state that export goods or have the potential to export. PIERS StatsPlus combines international trade statistics with market specific trade information to provide a global picture of commodities that can help identify growing markets for commodities specific to each states’ exports.

“As an economic development partnership between the federal government and our 13 member-states, the Appalachian Regional Commission understands the importance of developing the Region’s export success.  Helping us position Appalachia for the future, our new multi-year partnership with PIERS is providing our members with the key international trade data that the Region needs to engage, compete, and succeed in the global economy of the 21st century,” said J. Scott Hercik, Transportation and International Trade Advisor, Appalachian Regional Commission.

Global Appalachia has made available to each ARC member-state up to $100,000 in ARC Co-Chair funds to match, dollar-for-dollar, individual state or state-secured investments that support the goals of the National Export Initiative.  With an emphasis on small-to-medium size businesses and the unique challenges and opportunities of Appalachia’s rural areas, Global Appalachia encourages a stronger partnership between ARC member-states, the federal government, and Appalachian businesses to increase the number of businesses that want to export and increase the value of exports for businesses currently exporting.

Wael Jarous, Vice President of PIERS said, “The formation of this partnership between PIERS and ARC speaks volume to our commitment to helping support the efforts of individual states as they strive to reach the goal set forth by the National Export Initiative.  As the only trade intelligence provider that offers export data with transactional details, PIERS is uniquely qualified to assist economic development agencies with their strategic planning and business development efforts.”

To learn more about the unique advantages of using PIERS U.S. Export Data visit www.piers.com/usexports and check out our new interactive graph that shows actual monthly values for PIERS TEU volume and U.S. Census data as well as projected values to reach the National Export Initiative’s goal.

TD Bank along with many other leading financial institutions has found PIERS Trade Finance™ to be an invaluable tool for finding “hot leads” involved in international trade.  The intuitive interface of Trade Finance allows them to see what companies in a given U.S. region are trading overseas, and then drill down to see the individual companies and the markets they serve.  Selecting any given company in the search results allows them to access detailed D&B company information which is combined with PIERS trade data, to provide valuable insight into that company’s trade activity.  This unique combination of data makes for a very powerful prospecting tool that gives users the choice of accessing aggregate trade data that shows top trading partners, ports, and commodities traded, or drilling down to see the rich details in individual Bills of Lading.

Trade Finance also has the added benefit of showing companies’ bank of record (when available) as part of the search results, and because PIERS is the only provider of transaction level export data TD Bank is able to get a complete view of each company’s trade activity, as opposed to just seeing foreign suppliers.

Dan Fisher, Director of Global Trade Finance North America, has been benefitting from PIERS trade intelligence for many years, and says, “We find PIERS Trade Finance very useful to assist in our origination efforts for trade finance business.  This database allows us to look for clients by region, state and even down to the respective counties that our commercial lenders work in.  It is always nice to have a warm lead instead of having to go for a cold call to a company to provide our services.”

To learn more about how PIERS Trade Finance visit www.piers.com/finance or call +1-973-776-8660 to speak to a solutions expert.

Published by The Journal of Commerce (JOC), JOC Sailings White Label allows customers to embed the most comprehensive database of sailing schedules into their own website. Searches performed on a customer’s website, query the JOC Sailings database and return results directly on the customer’s site, integrating with their existing design and branding.

This new product is ideal for any industry player with a touch-point in moving containerized, ro/ro, breakbulk or reefer cargo.  JOC Sailings White Label is flexible and customizable, offering a choice of search features and a definable range of sailing schedules.  Incorporating a search function and results grid designed to match the look and feel of the customer’s website, JOC Sailings White Label lets customers immerse their visitors in a rich search environment from within their own site.

“I am really excited to offer this cloud based solution to integrate the power of JOC Sailings into the websites or online products of those involved in the international supply chain. The JOC has a rich history of publishing sailing schedules and to now be able to offer customers the ability to integrate up-to-date global schedules into their own product offerings, speaks volumes to our focus on customer needs and the new product development underway within our group.” said Gavin Carter, CIO of UBM Global Trade. “This is just one of several ways we are pushing out new technology services to the shipping industry.”

The Journal of Commerce has published sailing schedules throughout its illustrious history and launched the JOC Sailings brand in 2008 to effectively distribute up-to-date sailing information online. For more information or to request a demo from a JOC Sailings solutions experts, visit www.jocsailings.com.

Increases in home sales have buoyed the housing market, leading to a 7% November growth in shipments of furniture, a top import commodity.

“A healthy housing market is key to the revival of U.S. containerized imports growth as many of the goods consumers purchase to furnish a home are imported,” Moreno said. He pointed to additional expansion in November in cooking and heat appliances, lamps and parts, and kitchenware. Growth in these other commodities contributed to the increase in imports from China—up 4.1% Y-o-Y, the country’s first rise in eight months. Demand for local lumber was a key factor in a surprising November increase of 515% in imports from Canada.

“The question is, are we seeing a self-sustained recovery in home sales?” Moreno said. “This will depend very much on how many jobs the economy can generate every month… Over the last 12 months through November, the economy generated an average of 132,000 jobs per month (NSA). We are not there yet, but getting closer.”

On a month-to-month basis, overall imports edged up 0.3% in November, and YTD, imports were up 3%.

A full analysis of these findings is available online at www.joc.com, or for a more a granular look at U.S. waterborne shipments including company names, commodity, carrier, country of origin/destination and more, visit www.piers.com.

As these countries’ economies mature and become common fixtures in the investment community, investors are eager to uncover the next “diamond in the ruff” to secure double-digit returns for years and decades to come.  A recent article in the December issue of Global Finance magazine showed what traits leading financial institutions use to identify the countries they think are poised to become “future-star” economies and what their predictions are for their respective “next big thing” lists. 

In an attempt to emulate the success of the BRIC moniker, Goldman Sachs has introduced the Next Eleven (N11), while HSBC’s list uses the acronym CIVETS (Columbia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Egypt, Turkey, and South Africa).  Fidelity has chosen a similar acronym MINTs (Mexico, Indonesia, Nigeria, and Turkey), and Citi has created their Global Growth Generators, or 3G countries.

According to the article there are three factors that seem to be the underlying prerequisites for explosive global growth: a stable sociopolitical environment, human capital, and infrastructure. 

A stable sociopolitical environment is essential to help create a venue in which companies can invest. Dong-Sinh Ngo, Chief Strategist, Emerging Markets and Asia Pacific, at BNP Paribas IP, says, “Institutions and the rule of law are necessary for growth.  At the most basic level, legal institutions are needed to guarantee contracts in order to motivate people to invest.”

Another important factor in a country’s success is human capital.  But according to experts interviewed by Global Finance merely having a large population of working age adults is not enough by itself to fuel growth.  Nicolas Kwan, Head of Research, Asia at Standard Chartered, explains, “People need to be educated at primary and secondary level for them to achieve their potential—long-term growth can’t be built on cheap labor.”

The third and final factor is infrastructure.  Without proper investments in infrastructure like electricity, roads and bridges, and ports, trade on a global scale is not sustainable in the long-term, and those countries that haven’t made adequate investments will likely see slower growth.

So assuming their predictions are correct what are the next big emerging markets? 

The only country that was selected by all four institutions was Indonesia, followed by Nigeria, Vietnam, Turkey, and Egypt which were included in three of the four analyses.  Other countries mentioned more than once include Bangladesh, Mexico, and the Philippines. 

Ultimately, only time will tell which of these economies will prevail, but global trade intelligence from PIERS can help you uncover which markets are growing and which are in decline.  To learn more, register for a free market snapshot at www.piers.com.