WorldCity, Annual Report: No. 17 Trinidad & Tobago- Energy provides trade edge | Connecting Local Business Leaders To The Global Economy

Annual Report: No. 17 Trinidad & Tobago- Energy provides trade edge

July 8th, 2006

Georgia is a key importer of liquefied natural gas to fuel the U.S. East Coast. Trinidad and Tobago is the supplier.

Fast-growing Trinidad and Tobago has one of the most one-sided relationships of all Georgia’s trade partners. In 2005, Georgia imported more than $1 billion in goods from the Caribbean country while exporting only $40 million to Trinidad.

Trinidad has developed coveted natural gas contracts that are fueling its trade relationships and economic growth. Liquefied natural gas (LNG) imports made up nearly 85 percent of all of Georgia’s trade with the energy-rich country.

Trinidad supplies about three-quarters of the United States’ total foreign LNG, and it is the top supplier of liquefied natural gas to the East Coast.

In 2005, Georgia imported $889-million worth of LNG from Trinidad, about a third more than the year before.

But it was one of the country’s other economic drivers, ammonia, that saw the biggest value jump when it came to trade with Georgia. The state’s imports of ammonia rose an impressive 162 percent to reach nearly $96 million. In 2004, Georgia imported less than $37 million in ammonia from the Caribbean nation. Ammonia is used for fertilizers and explosives.

Non-crude petroleum was the third leading commodity coming to Georgia from Trinidad. Those shipments ended the year totaling $90 million – a gain of 322 percent compared with 2004.

The two-island nation also sent Georgia $5.7 million-worth of nitrogenous fertilizers, up from $5.5 million a year earlier.

At the same time, Georgia imported more than $13 million in methanol and other acyclic alcohols, a 67 percent gain. Trinidad has become the world’s largest methanol producer.

Aluminum waste, cartons, electrical supplies and plastic tableware were other major imports arriving from Trinidad.

More than a quarter of Georgia’s exports to Trinidad came from just two commodities: poultry feeds and wood pulp. Although the Peach State exported $11.2 million worth of poultry feed, that represented a more than 10 percent drop from a year earlier.

Georgia’s pulp and paper sector is among top industries driving its exports, and Trinidad tapped those resources last year. The Peach State shipped approximately $9 million-worth of products related to that industry. The greatest jump came in exports of chemical wood pulp. They rose 195 percent in value to total $1.6 million.

Georgia also sent $3.4 million in uncoated paper and paperboard to the Caribbean country last year, compared with $2.2 million in 2004, up 52 percent. Kraft paper was another important export. In 2005, Trinidad took shipments of about $2.2 million-worth of kraft paper from Georgia, down just slightly from 2004.

Iron and steel structures, mostly for Trinidad’s oil and gas industry, also were shipped to the Caribbean nation. Those exports valued $5.2 million. Georgia had no exports to Trinidad in that commodity category during 2004.

Among the United States’ five most important Customs districts handling cargo from Trinidad, the Savannah Customs District ranked third. It was also the fastest growing of the five, with trade up more than 31 percent.