Overall trade is on the rise, if only conservatively
By Yousra Benkirane
In the Miami Customs District, which encompasses all of South Florida’s ports and airports, cargo volume has been steadily growing after COVID-19 slowdowns and is projecting a conservative increase in the coming year. As trade through South Florida leverages the growth of nearby offshore manufacturing – and avoids some of the worst slowdowns in the global supply chain – demand for imported products and commodities is on the rise. From August 2021 to August 2022, imports increased by approximately 12 percent. Exports rose as well, by approximately 4 percent, led by shipments to South America.
On the import side, China is still Greater Miami’s top import source as of August 2022 ($611 million that month), despite the decrease in trade flows amid Chinese COVID shutdowns. Colombia follows next ($345 million in August), as gold imports regained demand.
The overall increase in year-to-year imports was explained primarily by an increase of product from Vietnam (a jump of 83.9 percent to $77.9 million), led by a surge in shipments of integrated circuits. Imports from Colombia also grew sharply, up 29.2 percent, led by not only gold (up 76.9 percent to $99 million) but by telephones (up 27.2 percent to $55.4 million) and integrated circuits (up 107 percent to $41 million).
On the export side, Brazil remains the leading destination from the Miami Customs District ($1.19 billion in August). The overall increase in year-to-year numbers can be attributed to increased shipments to Argentina (up $84 million, or 61 percent), Chile (up $69.8 million, or 19.7 percent to), and Brazil (up $42.8 million, or 4.86 percent). In terms of products, the growth in exports was led by increases in computer shipments (up $66.9 million, or 25.5 percent); medical products such as vaccines, blood, antisera, toxins, and cultures (up $53.6 million, or 92.2 percent); and telephones (up $41.8 million, or 12.3 percent).
Additionally, while the export of aircraft parts decreased overall compared to the previous year (down 21.6 percent), year-by-year aircraft parts shipments to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) increased a breathtaking 634 percent to $146 million, thanks to the UAE’s demand for air travel following the easing of the pandemic.
On the sea side, PortMiami recorded cargo growth of 8.88 percent from August 2021 to August 2022. Reflecting that cargo increase, Florida East Coast (FEC) Railway now runs two trains daily into and out of PortMiami, with each train carrying 50 to 80 containers (aka TEUs or 20-foot equivalent units). Inbound containers came primarily from the interior of the U.S., while outbound containers were destined primarily for Central and North Florida and the Southeast U.S.
Indeed, data from PortMiami shows an increase in rail cargo volumes over the past several years. During the 2021 fiscal year, FEC trains moved 37,938 containers by rail in and out of PortMiami, 52 percent more than in the 2020 fiscal year, when FEC trains moved 24,908 TEUs. As of June 2022, volume was up 44 percent from the pre-pandemic level in June 2019. New trends and disruptions in the global supply chain are giving East Coast seaports like PortMiami, which has an economic impact of $43 billion and generates about 334,500 jobs, the ability to receive more cargo shifting from the West Coast to the East Coast.
Miami International Airport, meanwhile, experienced a slight decrease in the year-to-year dollar value of overall freight carried (down 6.41 percent) despite substantial increases in freight volume. This can be attributed to export decreases in high-ticket categories like aircraft parts (down $168 million or 22.6 percent), gold (down $36.7 million or 47.6 percent), and fine art paintings (down $32.7 million or 78.2 percent), and import decreases in vaccines, blood, antisera, toxins, and cultures (down $81.6 million or 98.8 percent), and gas turbines (down $50.3 million or 51.5 percent).
Overall, while Latin America and China remain the top sources for imports to the Miami Customs District, Europe showed the fastest growth, with France increasing by 82 percent to $126 million, and Italy increasing by 27.7 percent to $65.3 million. The fastest-growing export destinations between August 2021 and August 2022 were the United Arab Emirates (up 264 percent to $124 million), China (up 155 percent to $61.7 million), and Peru (up 39.9 percent to $73.8 million).
Sources:
The Observatory of Economic Complexity,
United States Census Bureau USA Trade® Online, PortMiami,
Miami International Airport
