BTS Releases October North American Freight Numbers: U.S. - NAFTA Trade Exceeds $100B for First Time on Record

BTS 01-14

Tuesday, January 7, 2014

Contact: Dave Smallen

Tel: 202-366-5568

 

BTS Releases October North American Freight Numbers:

U.S. - NAFTA Trade Exceeds $100B for First Time on Record  

 

 

            U.S. trade with its North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) partners Canada and Mexico in October 2013 was $103.1 billion, up 4.5 percent from October 2012 and exceeding $100 billion for the first month on record, according to freight data released today by the Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) of the U.S. Department of Transportation (Table 1).

 

BTS, a part of the Department’s Research and Innovative Technology Administration, reported that three of the five transportation modes carried more U.S.-NAFTA trade in October 2013 than in October 2012. Total surface transportation trade, comprised of truck, rail and pipeline, was at an all-time high in October, at $85.4 billion. Truck, at $61.4 billion, and rail, at $15.9 billion, also reached record monthly levels (Table 2).

 

Total surface transportation trade topped its previous high of $81.7 billion set in March 2013. The previous high for truck was $60.0 billion in October 2012, and for rail the previous high was $15.3 billion in May 2013.

 

Pipelines showed the most year-to-year growth at 23.7 percent. The increase in the value of freight carried by pipelines reflects the rise in prices for oil and other petroleum products, the primary commodity transported by pipelines (Table 3).

 

Trade by Mode

Truck, which carries three-fifths of U.S.-NAFTA trade and is the most heavily utilized mode for moving goods to and from both U.S.-NAFTA partners, rose 3.1 percent year-to-year while rail rose 7.1 percent. Vessel declined 3.6 percent and air declined 1.0 percent (Figure 1).

 

Trucks carried 59.5 percent of the $103.1 billion of U.S.-NAFTA trade in October 2013 accounting for $32.3 billion of exports and $29.0 billion of imports (Table 2). Truck was followed by rail at 15.4 percent, vessels at 8.8 percent, pipeline at 7.8 percent and air at 3.8 percent. The surface transportation modes of truck, rail and pipeline carried 82.8 percent of the total NAFTA freight flows.

 

Trade with Canada

U.S.-Canada trade by vessel, of which 63.3 percent was imported, had the largest percentage increase of any mode from October 2012 to October 2013, growing 40.2 percent. Next highest was pipeline trade, which grew 26.7 percent during the same period. Petroleum products have the highest value of any commodity by both vessel and pipeline although pipelines carry four times the amount of petroleum from Canada to the U.S. as do vessels. U.S.-Canada pipeline trade comprises 96.1 percent of total U.S.-NAFTA pipeline trade (Tables 2, 4). Freight moved by truck between the U.S. and Canada grew the least of any mode, 0.7 percent (Figure 3).

 

For trade with Canada in October, trucks carried 53.5 percent of the $56.7 billion of freight, followed by rail at 16.5 percent, pipelines at 13.7 percent, vessel at 6.0 percent and air at 4.5 percent. The surface transportation modes of truck, rail and pipeline carried 83.8 percent of the total U.S.-Canada freight flows (Table 4).  

 

Trade with Mexico

U.S.-Mexico trade by rail had the largest percentage increase of any mode from October 2012 to October 2013, growing 10.9 percent. Freight moved by vessel between the U.S. and Mexico decreased by 18.8 percent due to a 25 percent drop in the value of mineral fuels (primarily oil and natural gas) moving between the U.S. and Mexico by vessel (Figure 4).  

 

For trade with Mexico in October, trucks carried 66.9 percent of the $46.4 billion of the freight, followed by rail at 14.1 percent, vessel at 12.2 percent, air at 3.0 percent and pipelines at 0.7 percent. The surface transportation modes of truck, rail and pipeline carried 81.6 percent of the total U.S.-Mexico freight flows (Table 6).  

  

Commodities

In October 2013, the top commodity group transported between the U.S. and Canada was mineral fuels, of which $7.8 billion moved by pipeline (Table 5). The top commodity category transported between the U.S. and Mexico in October 2013 was electrical machinery, of which $8.2 billion moved by truck (Table 7).

 

Reporting Notes

Beginning with January 2013, BTS monthly TransBorder press releases contain data for all modes of transportation. Press releases and the BTS website define surface transportation modes as truck, rail and pipeline. See North American TransBorder Freight Data on the BTS website for additional data for surface modes since 1995 and all modes since 2004. The category of all modes of transportation cited in the following tables includes freight movements by truck, rail, vessel, pipeline, air, other and unknown modes of transport.     

           

Data in this press release are not adjusted for inflation. Additional summary data adjusted for inflation and exchange rates can be found on the BTS website under TransBorder Indexed Freight Flow Data. The BLS indexes used in the adjustments for inflation and exchange rates may be revised in each of the three months after original publication. For more information, see TransBorder Press Releases for previous press releases and summary tables. See TransBorder Freight Data for data from previous months, and more state, port, or commodity data. BTS has scheduled the release of November TransBorder numbers for Jan. 29.

 

 

 

 

Table 1. Value of Monthly U.S.-NAFTA Freight Flows

(millions of current dollars) 

Month	2011	2012	2013	Percent Change 2011-2012	Percent Change 2012-2013
January	79,608	87,490	90,512	9.9	3.5
February	77,015	89,385	88,449	16.1	-1.0
March	94,228	99,510	95,566	5.6	-4.0
April	87,097	92,199	98,984	5.9	7.4
May	91,126	96,840	98,577	6.3	1.8
June	90,663	94,200	93,483	3.9	-0.8
July	84,952	87,691	93,192	3.2	6.3
August	93,450	94,593	96,526	1.2	2.0
September	90,771	89,875	94,350	-1.0	5.0
October	91,837	98,632	103,089	7.4	4.5
November	90,401	94,877		5.0
December	86,775	84,695		-2.4
Year-to-date	880,748	930,416	952,728	5.6	2.4
Annual	1,057,924	1,109,988		4.9

SOURCE: Bureau of Transportation Statistics, TransBorder Freight Data 

NOTE: Numbers might not add to totals due to rounding. Percent changes based on numbers prior to rounding. 

 

Table 2. Value of Monthly U.S.-NAFTA Freight Flows by Mode of Transportation

(millions of current dollars) 

Mode		October 2012	October 2013	Percent Change October 2012-2013
All Modes	Imports	52,444	55,088	5.0
	Exports	46,188	48,001	3.9
	Total	98,632	103,089	4.5
All Surface Modes	Imports	43,755	46,160	5.5
	Exports	37,181	39,223	5.5
	Total	80,935	85,383	5.5
Truck	Imports	28,635	29,043	1.4
	Exports	30,896	32,329	4.6
	Total	59,531	61,373	3.1
Rail	Imports	9,493	10,256	8.0
	Exports	5,376	5,668	5.4
	Total	14,869	15,924	7.1
Pipeline	Imports	5,626	6,861	21.9
	Exports	909	1,226	34.8
	Total	6,535	8,087	23.7
Vessel	Imports	5,592	5,548	-0.8
	Exports	3,785	3,496	-7.6
	Total	9,377	9,045	-3.6
Air	Imports	1,720	1,715	-0.3
	Exports	2,245	2,209	-1.6
	Total	3,965	3,924	-1.0

SOURCE: Bureau of Transportation Statistics, TransBorder Freight Data

NOTES: Numbers might not add to totals due to rounding.   Percent changes based on numbers prior to rounding. The value of trade for all modes is not equal to the sum of truck, rail, pipeline, vessel and air modes, it also includes shipments made by mail, foreign trade zones, and other transportation.  For additional detail, please refer to the “Data Fields” section of the TransBorder web page: http://www.bts.gov/programs/international/TransBorder/TBDR_DataFields.html

 

 

Table 3. Percent Change in Value of U.S.-NAFTA Freight Flows by Mode

October 2013 Compared to October in...	Percent Change
	Truck	Rail	Pipeline	Air	Vessel	All Modes
2012	3.1	7.1	23.7	-1.0	-3.6	4.5
2011	11.4	15.1	32.5	-0.6	2.2	12.3
2010	22.2	35.4	62.9	-5.0	24.9	25.8
2009	39.6	64.6	81.5	5.5	73.4	46.6
2008	24.9	27.7	14.0	14.2	7.9	22.0
2007	17.2	28.8	53.1	13.4	36.5	22.2
2006	29.1	46.4	73.9	24.3	66.1	36.6
2005	38.2	49.6	54.1	31.3	68.3	42.5
2004	51.0	62.5	135.1	43.0	88.9	60.0

SOURCE: Bureau of Transportation Statistics, TransBorder Freight Data

Note: Numbers might not add to totals due to rounding. Percent change based on numbers prior to rounding.

 

 

 

Table 4. Value of Monthly U.S.-Canada Freight Flows by Mode of Transportation

(millions of current dollars)

Mode		October 2012	October 2013	Percent Change October 2012-2013
All Modes	Imports	27,626	29,824	8.0
	Exports	25,730	26,847	4.3
	Total	53,356	56,670	6.2
All Surface Modes	Imports	24,126	25,442	5.5
	Exports	21,111	22,040	4.4
	Total	45,238	47,482	5.0
Truck	Imports	12,366	12,223	-1.2
	Exports	17,769	18,110	1.9
	Total	30,135	30,332	0.7
Rail	Imports	6,135	6,377	3.9
	Exports	2,831	2,998	5.9
	Total	8,966	9,375	4.6
Pipeline	Imports	5,625	6,843	21.6
	Exports	512	932	82.0
	Total	6,137	7,775	26.7
Vessel	Imports	1,557	2,145	37.8
	Exports	862	1,246	44.5
	Total	2,419	3,391	40.2
Air	Imports	934	1,066	14.1
	Exports	1,584	1,487	-6.1
	Total	2,518	2,553	1.4

SOURCE: Bureau of Transportation Statistics, TransBorder Freight Data

NOTES: Numbers might not add to totals due to rounding. Percent changes based on numbers prior to rounding. The value of trade for all modes is not equal to the sum of truck, rail, pipeline, vessel and air modes, it also includes shipments made by mail, foreign trade zones, and other transportation.  For additional detail, please refer to the “Data Fields” section of the TransBorder web page: http://www.bts.gov/programs/international/TransBorder/TBDR_DataFields.html

 

 

 

Table 5. Top Commodity Transported between the U.S. and Canada for Each Mode of Transportation, October 2013

(millions of current dollars)

Mode	Commodities	Exports	Imports	Total
Truck	Vehicles Other than Railway	3,322	2,492	5,814
Rail	Vehicles Other than Railway	958	2,583	3,541
Pipeline	Mineral Fuels; Oils and Waxes	932	6,822	7,754
Vessel	Mineral Fuels; Oils and Waxes	1,028	1,748	2,776
Air	Computer-Related Machinery and Parts	336	192	528

SOURCE: Bureau of Transportation Statistics, TransBorder Freight Data

Note: Numbers might not add to totals due to rounding.

 

 

 

Table 6. Value of Monthly U.S.-Mexico Freight Flows by Mode of Transportation

(millions of current dollars)

Mode		October 2012	October 2013	Percent Change October 2012-2013
All Modes	Imports	24,818	25,265	1.8
	Exports	20,458	21,154	3.4
	Total	45,276	46,419	2.5
All Surface Modes	Imports	19,628	20,718	5.6
	Exports	16,069	17,183	6.9
	Total	35,698	37,901	6.2
Truck	Imports	16,269	16,821	3.4
	Exports	13,127	14,220	8.3
	Total	29,396	31,041	5.6
Rail	Imports	3,357	3,879	15.5
	Exports	2,546	2,670	4.9
	Total	5,903	6,548	10.9
Pipeline	Imports	2	19	1073.0
	Exports	397	294	-26.0
	Total	399	312	-21.6
Vessel	Imports	4,036	3,403	-15.7
	Exports	2,923	2,250	-23.0
	Total	6,959	5,654	-18.8
Air	Imports	786	649	-17.5
	Exports	661	723	9.4
	Total	1,447	1,371	-5.2

SOURCE: Bureau of Transportation Statistics, TransBorder Freight Data

NOTES: Numbers might not add to totals due to rounding. Percent changes based on numbers prior to rounding. The value of trade for all modes is not equal to the sum of truck, rail, pipeline, vessel and air modes, it also includes shipments made by mail, foreign trade zones, and other transportation.  For additional detail, please refer to the “Data Fields” section of the TransBorder web page: http://www.bts.gov/programs/international/TransBorder/TBDR_DataFields.html

 

 

 

Table 7. Top Commodity Transported between the U.S. and Mexico for Each Mode of Transportation, October 2013

(millions of current dollars)

Mode	Commodities	Exports	Imports	Total
Truck	Electrical Machinery; Equipment and Parts	3,146	5,033	8,178
Rail	Vehicles Other than Railway	721	2,936	3,657
Pipeline	Mineral Fuels; Oils and Waxes	294	18	312
Vessel	Mineral Fuels; Oils and Waxes	1,328	2,856	4,184
Air	Electrical Machinery; Equipment and Parts	246	211	457

SOURCE: Bureau of Transportation Statistics, TransBorder Freight Data

NOTE: Numbers might not add to totals due to rounding.