BTS report says U.S. is second in world maritime container traffic
The United States is second in world maritime container traffic, according to a report released today by the Bureau of Transportation Statistics.
The report, entitled “America’s Container Ports: Delivering the Goods,” said that one in nine maritime containers in the world were either bound for or coming from the U.S. It also noted that U.S. container trade in 2005 and 2006 was more than double the trade volume from decade earlier, adding that an estimated 46.3 million 20-foot equivalent units (TEUs) passed through U.S. ports in 2006, topping 22.6 million in 1996.
And during this same period, world container trade more than tripled and resulted in a decline in the U.S. share of world container trade from 16 percent to 11 percent, according to the report. Meanwhile, the U.S. has been in second to China in terms of world container trade volume since 1998.
The report also noted that container traffic in the United States is becoming more concentrated as larger, faster and more specialized vessels call at the limited number of ports capable of handling them. And the top 10 U.S. container ports accounted for 85 percent of U.S. containerized traffic in 2005, measured in TEUs, up from 78 percent in 1995.
And nearly 55 percent, of U.S. containerized merchandise trade in terms of TEUs passed through west coast ports in 2005, up from 42 percent in 1980, noted the BTS.
Another interesting finding was that roughly 26 million containers of various sizes entered the United States by all modes of transportation in 2005, up 37 percent from 19 million in 2000. Of those containers, more than 15 million entered the nation by truck and rail from Canada and Mexico in 2005 while the remaining 11 million were oceanborne.
The report, entitled “America’s Container Ports: Delivering the Goods,” said that one in nine maritime containers in the world were either bound for or coming from the U.S. It also noted that U.S. container trade in 2005 and 2006 was more than double the trade volume from decade earlier, adding that an estimated 46.3 million 20-foot equivalent units (TEUs) passed through U.S. ports in 2006, topping 22.6 million in 1996.
And during this same period, world container trade more than tripled and resulted in a decline in the U.S. share of world container trade from 16 percent to 11 percent, according to the report. Meanwhile, the U.S. has been in second to China in terms of world container trade volume since 1998.
The report also noted that container traffic in the United States is becoming more concentrated as larger, faster and more specialized vessels call at the limited number of ports capable of handling them. And the top 10 U.S. container ports accounted for 85 percent of U.S. containerized traffic in 2005, measured in TEUs, up from 78 percent in 1995.
And nearly 55 percent, of U.S. containerized merchandise trade in terms of TEUs passed through west coast ports in 2005, up from 42 percent in 1980, noted the BTS.
Another interesting finding was that roughly 26 million containers of various sizes entered the United States by all modes of transportation in 2005, up 37 percent from 19 million in 2000. Of those containers, more than 15 million entered the nation by truck and rail from Canada and Mexico in 2005 while the remaining 11 million were oceanborne.
