Source: http://worldcityweb.com/home/MIA/publications/magazine/56/925/

(4) Miami Trade 2008 Q1 Report - Miami Slips to No.14

by WC

The Miami Customs district has fallen to its lowest national ranking in at least a decade, according to WORLDCITY analysis of the most recently released U.S. Census data, which covers the first quarter of 2008.

Philadelphia, a leading oil-importing Customs district, grew at a 32.6 percent clip in the first quarter, compared to a growth rate of 12.4 percent for South Florida, and jumped into the No. 13 position previously held by Miami.

In 2002, Miami had ranked No. 11. Since then, it has also fallen behind Savannah, which is buoyed by import trade with China and Cleveland, Ohio, also buoyed by China. The Miami Customs district runs from Fort Pierce in the north to Key West but is dominated by Miami International Airport, the Port of Miami and Port Everglades with Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport and the Port of Palm Beach also playing important roles.

Through the first three months of the year, MIAs total trade was valued at $9.5 billion, or about 45 percent of the total. Port Everglades slipped past the Port of Miami to rank second in dollar value, with $5.4 billion compared to $4.8 billion for the Port of Miami. The Fort Lauderdale airport, used by Brazilian aircraft manufacturer Embraer, saw the value of its imports more than double, from $243.6 million to $599.7 million. The Port of Palm Beach recorded $522.9 million in two-way trade.

MIAs increase is 16.4 percent and Everglades is 10.2 percent while the Port of Miamis trade is down 0.9 percent through the first quarter. The Port of Miami has seen significant declines in its import volume from the Dominican Republic and Italy.

Airports and seaports tend to focus on weight more than dollar value, and seaports tend to dominate since heavy commodities tend to sail rather than fly. Lighter weight, more valuable or time-sensitive commodities fly.

Using weight, Port Everglades is the leader at 2.84 million U.S. tons, followed by the Port of Miami at 1.58 million U.S. tons. MIAs weight total through the first three months was 256,566 tons.

Other highlights in the first-quarter trade statistics include:

(1) New York City is the nations leading Customs district for the first time since 2003, moving ahead of Los Angeles. Its trade grew 14.7 percent to $87.2 billion compared to 4 percent and $83.8 billion for Los Angeles. On an annual basis, Los Angeles has been the nations No. 1 Customs district for 14 of the last 15 years, with 2001 being the exception.

(2) Among the Top 25 Customs districts, Philadelphias growth rate was the fastest. Two Customs districts, Detroit and Dallas, saw their trade totals drop when compared to the first quarter of 2007.

(3) Canada remains the U.S.s No. 1 trading partner, and it put some distance between itself and No. 2 China. Chinas two-way trade with the U.S. experienced an un-China-like 5.6 percent growth rate in the first quarter, including a meager 1.8 percent growth in imports from China. For the previous five years, first-quarter growth of Chinas imports had averaged $9.5 billion. In 2008, the growth was only $1.3 billion.

(4) The Top 10 country rankings were unchanged but the new No. 11, up from No. 19, is Saudi Arabia. Oil accounts for 95 percent of the value of all Saudi imports, and imports rose from $6.2 billion to $12.2 billion. The price of oil has essentially doubled since the end of the year, from the mid-$60s per barrel to as much as $120 per barrel.

(5) The high price of oil can be seen in South Floridas statistics as well. The value of gasoline, jet fuel and other refined petroleum imports, which enter South Florida at Port Everglades, jumped to nearly $1 billion in the first quarter. That is a 25.5 percent increase over the same period in 2007 and a 617 percent increase over 2002.

(6) Despite not keeping track with the national growth rate in total trade through the first quarter, the Miami Customs district managed to surpass $20 billion for the first time in the first quarter, almost double the $11.7 billion total for the January through March period of 2002. It puts South Florida on track to break through the $80 billion annual mark.

(7) Its trade surplus, one of the few in the nation, fell just shy of $4 billion for the first quarter, second only to Seattle, where Boeing manufactures. South Florida is the only Customs district to have had a continuous trade surplus the last 15 years and has had the nations largest surplus many of those years.

(8) South Floridas balance of trade is more skewed toward exports, at 60 cents for each dollar of total trade, than all other Customs districts except No. 40 Honolulu. Honolulus balance of trade is 61 percent exports, up from 25 percent and a trade deficit during the first quarter of 2007, on the strength of export growth from $361.8 million to $2.1 billion. No. 7 Seattle has a significantly greater import total so its trade is more balanced at 56 cents, even though it has a surplus slightly greater than South Floridas. Miami had been ranked first in the first quarter of 2007.

(9) Miami moved up one position to rank as the nations eighth most important Customs district for exports, slipping past San Francisco on 17.9 percent growth to $12.4 billion. Ten of the Top 25 Customs districts saw their exports grow at a faster rate through the first three months of the year, evidence of the impact of the U.S. dollars decline against other world currencies.

(10) On the import side, Miami was less important in the first quarter of 2008, falling one position to a No. 18 rank and three positions from 2002, when it ranked No. 15. The Great Falls, Mont., Customs district, a large importer of natural gas from Canada and exporter of gold to Switzerland through Salt Lake City, moved ahead of it in 2008.