[StBernard] Louisiana Shatters State Export Record In 2007, Reaching $30.4 Billion

[Westley Annis]

LOUISIANA SHATTERS STATE EXPORT RECORD IN 2007, REACHING $30.4 BILLION 
Shipments Abroad Were 29.2 Percent Above Those of 2006, the Previous Record
Year

Louisiana's worldwide merchandise exports, which set a record in 2006,
exceeded that level in 2007 by nearly 30 percent, the second largest
percentage increase of any state, according to a report issued today by the
World Trade Center of New Orleans. 

The value of the state's exports reached a new high of $30.4 billion in
2007, according to the WTC report, compared to $23.5 billion in 2006.
Louisiana's export growth of 29.2 percent last year was more than double the
overall U.S. rate of 12.1 percent. In 2005, the year Hurricanes Katrina and
Rita devastated southern Louisiana and other Gulf Coast states, the state's
exports were $19.2 billion, and in 2004 they were $19.9 billion. 

Agricultural products, petroleum and coal, chemicals, processed foods,
machinery, and transportation equipment ranked as Louisiana's top six export
sectors in 2007, five of which registered double-digit percentage gains over
2006. The state's principal export markets last year were Japan, Mexico,
China, Canada, and Egypt. 

The WTC report was generated by the World Institute of Strategic Economic
Research (WISER) from U.S. Census Bureau data. It covers the exports of both
Louisiana originating products and some major commingled bulk commodities
(especially grain and coal) produced in other states that are shipped abroad
from Louisiana's ports and recorded as Louisiana exports because of the
difficulty of identifying the actual states of origin. 

The value of export shipments of agricultural products through Louisiana's
lower Mississippi River ports - which account for over 50 percent of U.S.
grain exports - was especially strong in 2007 with $12.5 billion, a 37.8
percent increase. 

"The state's remarkable export performance last year had a lot to do with
exceptionally high prices of agricultural and petroleum-related products,
but the gains in other products were almost as impressive" said Larry
Collins, Director of International Services with Louisiana Economic
Development. "The increases were also driven by the continuing weakness in
the U.S. dollar relative to other currencies, making U.S. goods and services
a good buy in most countries." 

After agricultural products, Louisiana's largest exports in 2007 were
petroleum and coal products ($5.7 billion, a 46.2 percent increase),
chemicals ($5.6 billion, a 9.9 percent increase), processed foods ($2.6
billion, a 19.7 percent increase), machinery ($851 million, a 31.3 percent
increase), and transportation equipment ($830 million, a 16.8 percent
increase). 

"We are seeing many of Louisiana's exporters recording major increases in
their overseas sales," said Donald van de Werken, Director of the New
Orleans U.S. Export Assistance Center. "It is noteworthy that six of
Louisiana's top 10 export markets were countries with which the United
States already has a Free Trade Agreement (Mexico, Canada, and Guatemala) or
pending FTAs in Congress (Korea, Colombia, and Panama)." 

Japan and Mexico were virtually tied as the number one market for Louisiana
exports in 2007. Shipments to Japan were $2.831 billion (a 13.2 percent
increase over 2006), while those to Mexico were $2.830 billion (a 29.4
percent increase over the prior year). China was in third place as an export
market for Louisiana ($2.6 billion), followed by Canada ($1.8 billion) and
Egypt ($1.3 billion). 

"The global economy continues to rapidly expand, even with the slowdown in
the U.S., and offers tremendous opportunities for Louisiana companies in all
sectors and all parts of the world," said Eugene Schreiber, Managing
Director of the World Trade Center. "It is absolutely critical that
Louisiana make the needed investments in its ports to keep up with this
growth and to compete successfully against other U.S. ports for future
cargos, including those that will result from the widening of the Panama
Canal."

Among all states, Louisiana ranked 10th in 2007, up from 12th in 2006.
Texas, California, and New York continued to be the top three exporting
states. Total U.S. exports in 2007 were $1.2 trillion, a 12.1 percent
increase over 2006.

The following three charts summarize the data reported above.

Trade reports that provide information on 32 industry categories of
Louisiana exports (NAICS <http://www.census.gov/epcd/www/naics.html> ) and
97 commodities (HS <http://www.census.gov/foreign-trade/schedules/b/> ) to
more than 200 countries worldwide, as well as export totals of other U.S.
states, are available on the WTC's website by clicking the links below.

*	Louisiana Exports by Country
<http://www.wtcno.org/tradestats/country.htm>  (NAICS)
	
*	Louisiana Exports by Industry
<http://www.wtcno.org/tradestats/industry-naics.htm>  (NAICS)
*	Louisiana Exports by Commodity
<http://www.wtcno.org/tradestats/industry-hs.htm>  (HS)
*	U.S. Exports by State
<http://www.wtcno.org/tradestats/staterankings.htm>  (NAICS)

Louisiana Exports by Country
(US $, NAICS Database)  

 	 Description	 ANNUAL 2006	 ANNUAL 2007	 % Change	 
 	 Total all Countries	 23,503,359,105	 30,374,690,456	 29.2	 
1	 Japan	 2,501,688,045	 2,831,204,100	 13.2	 
2	 Mexico	 2,187,464,598	 2,830,403,355	 29.4	 
3	 China	 2,213,091,928	 2,653,028,110	 19.9	 
4	 Canada	 1,787,714,289	 1,853,877,316	 3.7	 
5	 Egypt	 632,788,119	 1,334,268,046	 110.9	 
6	 Netherlands	 1,126,581,073	 1,284,075,972	 14.0	 
7	 South Korea	 834,739,417	 920,697,178	 10.3	 
8	 Colombia	 630,393,791	 856,730,956	 35.9	 
9	 Panama	 288,337,227	 627,335,970	 117.6	 
10	 Brazil	 464,001,415	 609,124,058	 31.3	 
11	 Guatemala	 353,544,109	 601,090,138	 70.0	 

 Louisiana Exports by Industry
(US $, NAICS Database)  

 	 Description	 ANNUAL 2006	 ANNUAL 2007	 % Change	 
 	 Total all Industries	 23,503,359,105	 30,374,690,456	 29.2	 
1	 Agricultural Products	 9,056,753,595	 12,477,708,102	 37.8	 
2	 Petroleum And Coal Products	 3,913,945,337	 5,721,429,264
46.2	 
3	 Chemicals	 5,125,834,849	 5,634,362,578	 9.9	 
4	 Food And Kindred Products	 2,204,879,149	 2,639,360,373
19.7	 
5	 Machinery, Except Electrical	 648,488,175	 851,439,808
31.3	 
6	 Transportation Equipment	 711,086,665	 830,316,596
16.8	 
7	 Paper	 273,612,074	 360,509,258	 31.8	 
8	 Waste And Scrap	 114,373,363	 241,994,934	 111.6	 
9	 Primary Metal Manufacturing	 375,454,330	 239,676,272
-36.2	 
10	 Computer And Electronic Products	 151,263,198	 200,754,011
32.7	 

 U.S. Exports by State
(US $, NAICS Database)  

 	 Description	 ANNUAL 2006	 ANNUAL 2007	 % Change	 
 	 Total all States	 1,037,142,972,794	 1,162,708,293,437
12.1	 
1	 Texas	 150,888,054,964	 168,164,440,482	 11.5	 
2	 California	 127,746,135,340	 134,151,760,591	 5.0

3	 New York	 57,369,299,166	 69,333,647,127	 20.9	 
4	 Washington	 53,074,909,007	 66,258,480,342	 24.8	 
5	 Illinois	 42,084,595,133	 48,730,156,421	 15.8	 
6	 Florida	 38,544,528,174	 44,831,678,558	 16.3	 
7	 Michigan	 40,405,378,487	 44,371,424,346	 9.8	 
8	 Ohio	 37,832,693,465	 42,381,591,441	 12.0	 
9	 New Jersey	 27,001,734,586	 30,462,503,875	 12.8	 
10	 Louisiana	 23,503,359,105	 30,374,690,456	 29.2	 

Data from U.S. Census Bureau, Foreign Trade Division provided by World
Institute for Strategic Economic Research (WISER <http://www.wisertrade.org>
)

All data Origin of Movement Series