Trade shows new signs of life in 2010 - By Peter A. Buxbaum, AJOTThe port of New York and New Jersey’s trade with Asia has grown by leaps and bounds over the last couple of decades. Asia became the port’s largest market in 2000 and since 2002 has accounted for over 50 percent of total imports and exports. But the port’s historical, legacy market has been Europe. And, while the conditions of international trade caused Asian volumes to grow, the Northern European trades, at 18 percent of the total, still constitute an important part of the port’s business. Although European imports in 2009 were down 16 percent and exports were down 34 percent, the business now shows signs of growth. The port of New York and New Jersey commands the lion’s share of business with Europe among east coast ports from Boston to Norfolk. “Of the 14 routes serving the east coast and Northern Europe, the port of New York is the first port of call on nine of them if you don’t count Halifax,” said Pete Zantal, the manager of strategic analysis and industry relations at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. “It’s six first ports of call if you do count Halifax. We enjoy competitive transit times to all major European ports.” Being the first port of call is important because it means that importers get their products faster by having them offloaded in the port of New York. “They don’t have to wait until the ship moves further down the coast to get their boxes,” said Zantal. “When they’re offloaded in New York, importers can have their goods in the warehouse before the ship hits Baltimore or Norfolk.” Statistics supplied by the Port Authority show that the port of New York and New Jersey enjoys an overwhelming and growing market share in the European trade for both imports and exports among other European North Atlantic ports. For the first two months of this year, the latest for which numbers are available, the port of New York handled 62,567 import teus, an increase of 15.5 percent over the same period in 2009, for a market share of 64.9 percent. The port of Norfolk also enjoyed an increase in volumes and market share in the European trades while the numbers for Boston, Philadelphia, and Baltimore dropped on both scores. On the export side, the port of New York handled 40,207 teu in the European trades during January and February of 2010 for an increase of 9.2 percent in volume over last year and a market share of 54.7. Norfolk showed a slight increase in volume and flat market share growth while the three other ports lost volume and market share. Among the top European imports via the port, ales and beers ranked number one during the same period, with 7,558 teu handled for a 14.6 percent increase over last year. These products were followed by paper and stationery, automobile parts, furniture and fixtures, glassware, beverages, wines, candies and confections, cheese, and medical equipment. Among those, volumes of paper products grew fastest at 78.3 percent, with glassware, candies, and cheeses also registering double digit growth. Furniture volumes 6.1 percnet in the first two months of 2010. Among exports, automobile parts ranked first with 2,422 teu and a 55.8 percent increase over 2009. Those were followed by paper products, automobiles, plasticware, medical equipment, resins and adhesives, household goods, foodstuffs, logs and lumber, and chemicals. Of those, paper products registered an extraordinary 117.5 percent increase in volumes while plasticware and foodstuffs also registered strong growth. Automobiles, household goods, and logs and lumber all lost ground. The top three European import trading partners with the port of New York were Germany, the Netherlands, and France, in that order. Among the top ten import partners, which also included the United Kingdom, Belgium, Sweden, Poland, Ireland, Finland, and Denmark, all saw strong growth in January and February 2010, other than Sweden and Denmark, where trade was reduced slightly. The top five export markets fo