It’s hard to over emphasize the importance of the Port of Oakland to the economy of northern California. While the San Pedro ports can rightly be called the gateway to the nation, the Port of Oakland has a more modest but no less important role. The Port handles an estimated 99% of containerized goods moving through northern California. This is astounding market penetration for any port and makes the Port of Oakland, somewhat unique among the major US boxports. Not surprisingly, the Port’s main trade partners are in Asia, around 60%; with Europe at a little over 10%; and Australia/New Zealand and South Pacific Islands just under 5%. However, over 17.3% of Oakland’s trade is domestic cargo (Hawaii and Guam) and military cargo. Additionally, the Port of Oakland is the only major container port on the US West Coast that exports more than it imports with the volume of its export business at 55% and imports at 45%. In 2010, the Port of Oakland handled 2.33 million teus, as compared with 2.04 million teus in 2009. The real strength of these numbers is in the exports. Last year the Port posted 954,814 full export teus, as compared to 802,913 full inbound. In fact, during the recession the Port posted four straight years of over 900,000 full outbound teus. Part of the reason is the Port’s location. The Port of Oakland is the main exit point for northern California’s agricultural exports, which have boomed with the weakened dollar. With the recent Free Trade Agreement with South Korea (yet to be ratified in South Korea) there is a potential for increases in outbound agricultural goods in the near term.