As the most innovative and advanced U.S. trade information provider to the international trade community, Zepol has created this report of the top 50 U.S. ports for port authorities, steamship lines, 3PLs, importers, and suppliers of the United States market. This report provides a better understanding of where the U.S. transportation market has been in 2009 and where it is going in the future.

Not only does Zepol list the top 50 U.S. ports based on TEU, but also their foreign port and carrier partners (by SCAC). In addition, Zepol has listed some of their key consignees who imported significant TEU quantities according to U.S. Customs.1 There is also a 12 month trend for each port’s TEU volumes. Using U.S. Census data, Zepol has provided a list of the most important products for each port through the first 11 months of 2009.

All data was retrieved using Zepol’s trade data tools, TradeIQ™ and TradeView™. These products are subscription services for the international trade arena. Subscribers have access to additional information for each port, carrier, product, and importer at both a transactional and aggregate level.

Data is reported as it is released by government sources. In many cases, multiple sources will not show data that correlates. Most of these cases are accounted for based on how products arrive in the United States and the manner in which the U.S. government records the shipment data.

TEUs (Twenty-foot Equivalent Units) are derived from U.S. Customs trade data. TEUs include all containerized shipments released via U.S. Customs’ Automated Manifest System (AMS), including empties and excluding NVOCC Bill of Lading records. Values of trade are the total imports for the first 11 months of 2009 and all of 2008 from U.S. Census trade statistics.

The international ports reported are the last foreign ports the shipments left from before reaching the United States. Key importers are taken from a sampling of some of the top well known companies using the port for imports. Carriers are based upon the reported Standard Carrier Alpha Code (SCAC) included on shipments.

Zepol hopes that the information in this report will be informative and help your organization plan for 2010 by fully understanding your market.

Please click here to open or download the following Zepol 2009 Year in Review Report.

1.U.S. Customs allows importers to conceal the identity of their shipments. Thus, not all major importers for ports will be listed. Major companies using this treatment for their shipments include Wal Mart, Home Depot, and Target Corporation.