Statistics

Houston's trade surges
No surprise - it's all about the price of oil

January 1st, 2006

Houston is the fastest-growing U.S. Customs district in the nation, fueled largely by the large run-up in the price of crude oil through much of 2005.

Through the first nine months of the year, its trade with the world is up almost one-third, according to WorldCity analysis of U.S. Census Department data. Nationwide, trade is up 12 percent.

2005 Rank	Total Trade	Jan-Sep 2005	Jan-Sep 2004	Dollar Change	Percent Change
	.World Total	$99,252,717,285	$75,369,809,519	$23,882,907,766	31.69%
1	Mexico	$11,021,640,767	$8,132,594,510	$2,889,046,257	35.52%
2	Venezuela	$9,468,020,522	$6,582,313,632	$2,885,706,890	43.84%
3	Nigeria	$4,918,875,290	$3,263,305,211	$1,655,570,079	50.73%
4	China	$4,431,698,996	$3,688,002,659	$743,696,337	20.17%
5	United Kingdom	$4,130,193,015	$3,333,940,598	$796,252,417	23.88%
6	Germany	$3,999,879,363	$2,615,194,965	$1,384,684,398	52.95%
7	Saudi Arabia	$3,911,429,672	$2,721,285,517	$1,190,144,155	43.73%
8	Brazil	$3,555,698,272	$2,711,950,861	$843,747,411	31.11%
9	Netherlands	$2,976,615,018	$2,422,366,060	$554,248,958	22.88%
10	Algeria	$2,795,582,338	$2,056,343,067	$739,239,271	35.95%
11	Iraq	$2,556,326,834	$2,458,930,843	$97,395,991	3.96%
12	South Korea	$2,470,594,625	$2,251,069,087	$219,525,538	9.75%
13	Russia	$2,349,769,634	$1,691,740,003	$658,029,631	38.90%
14	Belgium	$2,166,375,280	$1,864,135,813	$302,239,467	16.21%
15	Colombia	$1,832,599,854	$1,685,056,554	$147,543,300	8.76%
16	France	$1,829,126,368	$1,466,808,332	$362,318,036	24.70%
17	Italy	$1,760,368,829	$1,387,866,838	$372,501,991	26.84%
18	Kuwait	$1,587,610,818	$1,032,942,663	$554,668,155	53.70%
19	Norway	$1,580,818,219	$1,208,482,401	$372,335,818	30.81%
20	Japan	$1,543,242,550	$1,102,175,380	$441,067,170	40.02%
21	Angola	$1,409,287,861	$677,409,689	$731,878,172	108.04%
22	Chile	$1,383,861,663	$935,163,695	$448,697,968	47.98%
23	Trinidad and Tobago	$1,287,654,122	$1,084,409,174	$203,244,948	18.74%
24	India	$1,154,599,751	$914,296,099	$240,303,652	26.28%
25	Taiwan	$1,135,069,045	$1,216,655,441	($81,586,396)	-6.71%

Crude oil accounts for slightly more than 50 percent of the total value of Houston imports and only slightly less than the total value of all of its exports combined.

In fact, 33 percent of its total trade is crude oil, a dominance unrivaled by any single commodity at any other U.S. Customs district across the nation. The No. 2 and No. 3 imports are energy related – oil other than crude and natural gas. Houston’s top four trade partners – Mexico, Venezuela, Nigeria and Saudi Arabia, in that order – are all oil importers and account for a statistically impressive 30 percent of its $99.3 billion in total trade. Among those four, the African nation of Nigeria is the fastest growing. Its trade is up more than 50 percent, and it moved up two notches, slipping past Saudi Arabia and Germany. Following Germany in the No. 5 slot are China, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Brazil and Algeria, rounding out the Top 10. By year’s end, Houston should have 31 nations with which it does more than $1 billion in trade, a number matched only by the nation’s two busiest Customs districts, Los Angeles and New York. Included in that list of 31 nations will be Iraq, No. 12 after nine months and up a relatively modest 9.75 percent. Houston is the nation’s sixth-largest Customs district, with Detroit, Laredo, Texas, and New Orleans also ahead of it. Rounding out the Top 10 are No. 7 San Francisco, No. 8 Savannah, No. 9 Seattle and No. 10 Cleveland. Houston imports about twice as much as it exports, in line with the national average.

Top Exports, 2005

	Jan-Sep 2005	Jan-Sep 2004	Dollar Change	Percent Change
Total, All Commodities	$34,755,537,069	$28,568,456,312	$6,187,080,757	21.66%
Oil, not crude	$4,396,018,071	$2,465,463,592	$1,930,554,479	78.30%
Machinery parts	$3,414,140,329	$2,637,439,373	$776,700,956	29.45%
Cyclic hydrocarbons	$2,260,019,375	$2,009,836,034	$250,183,341	12.45%
Polymers of ethylene	$911,100,797	$732,659,261	$178,441,536	24.36%
Acrylonitrile, related compounds	$770,428,252	$831,838,683	($61,410,431)	-7.38%
Wheat, meslin	$735,216,751	$984,534,159	($249,317,408)	-25.32%
Ethers, ether-alcohols, alcohol peroxides etc.	$709,253,803	$418,330,001	$290,923,802	69.54%
Acetic acids, vinyl acetates, etc.	$699,112,486	$581,493,872	$117,618,614	20.23%
Acyclic alcohols	$676,676,153	$660,198,363	$16,477,790	2.50%
Regional jet parts	$659,274,855	$548,191,558	$111,083,297	20.26%
Acyclic hydrocarbons	$547,497,216	$489,300,920	$58,196,296	11.89%
Halogenated derivatives of hydrocarbons	$518,574,324	$520,599,472	($2,025,148)	-0.39%
Synthetic rubber, including butadiene	$486,016,168	$369,412,825	$116,603,343	31.56%
Cotton, not carded or combed	$389,035,578	$301,878,920	$87,156,658	28.87%
Acrylic and methacrylic acids, etc.	$383,341,981	$343,144,554	$40,197,427	11.71%

Top Imports, 2005

	Jan-Sep 2005	Jan-Sep 2004	Dollar Change	Percent Change
Total, All Commodities	$64,497,180,216	$46,801,353,207	$17,695,827,009	37.81%
Crude oil from Petroleum, bituminous minerals	$32,737,800,167	$23,778,950,550	$8,958,849,617	37.68%
Oil, not crude	$7,231,089,343	$4,325,398,059	$2,905,691,284	67.18%
Petroleum gases, other gaseous hydrocarbons	$1,303,369,922	$736,339,625	$567,030,297	77.01%
Seamless iron tubes and pipes	$1,277,759,272	$612,381,825	$665,377,447	108.65%
Motor vehicles for transporting people	$993,274,972	$1,067,001,283	($73,726,311)	-6.91%
Cyclic hydrocarbons	$744,026,036	$417,646,763	$326,379,273	78.15%
Iron and steel pipes and tubing	$631,496,950	$338,066,014	$293,430,936	86.80%
Acyclic alcohols	$622,085,175	$358,715,573	$263,369,602	73.42%
Exports of repaired imports Imports of returned exports	$473,567,804	$444,205,574	$29,362,230	6.61%
Machinery parts	$406,488,355	$303,966,591	$102,521,764	33.73%
Oils derived from high temperature coal tar	$380,068,218	$196,180,837	$183,887,381	93.73%
Taps, cocks and valves for pipes, tanks	$358,995,068	$285,743,314	$73,251,754	25.64%
Tractors	$350,956,762	$243,771,206	$107,185,556	43.97%
Self-propelled heavy construction machinery	$344,604,576	$283,707,751	$60,896,825	21.46%
Misc. raw materials for industrial manufacturing	$315,032,611	$279,927,660	$35,104,951	12.54%