Cockeyed Optimism

The surge in imports may be a triumph of hope over reality. By Bill Armbruster Have U.S. importers been too optimistic about growth prospects in the U.S. this year? I think so — and I think that helps explain why there such was a mad scramble for container space out...

The Datamyne In the News

The March cover story in American Shipper (subscription only) on “The Resilient NVO” features data and analysis from The Datamyne, including the top 100 non-vessel operating common carriers on Asia-to-U.S. and Europe-to-U.S. trade lanes based on TEU volumes,...

Low Expectations

U.S. consumers are pessimistic; confidence is back in Asia, Brazil  The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index (released Feb. 23, based on a survey of 5,000 U.S. households through Feb. 17) now stands at 46.0 (1985=100), down from a relatively optimistic 56.5 in...

OJ on Ice

A January cold snap spikes the price of citrus  Latest assessments from the U.S. Department of Agriculture put the loss to Florida citrus growers from January’s cold snap at 7.4 million boxes of fruit at minimum — this on top of a harvest forecast that was already 20%...

Engine for growth

Betting that more exports = more jobs The Obama administration’s National Export Initiative (NEI) aims to double U.S. exports over the next five years by expanding government promotion efforts. The ultimate goal is job creation. As the Economic Report of the President...

Cloudy with a chance of …

Trade outlook depends on the dollar’s rise and fall Back from a three-day weekend you might have picked up a copy of the Wall Street Journal on Tuesday to find the U.S. dollar had strengthened relative to the euro, the result of a crisis of confidence in the European...

The Datamyne Top 5

Top U.S. Export Markets "We will double our exports over the Next five years..." – President Obama, SOTUS, January 27 Here's where we start: Top Countries of Destination 2009 - JAN to NOV - FOB Value US$