U.S. Trade for the Gulf Region

View the most current release.

On October 21, 2005 at 10 a.m. the Census Bureau will release preliminary September 2005 export and import data for districts in the Gulf region affected by the hurricanes, three weeks earlier than the official September release. The report will be available at www.census.gov/trade and contains preliminary export and import totals for each of the ports in the Gulf region and aggregated industry data for five Districts. This release will pertain solely to Census basis goods trade data involving districts in the region affected by hurricanes Katrina and Rita, and will not include any data on trade in services.

The Census Bureau requested, and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) granted, an exception under Section 7 of OMB Statistical Policy Directive No. 3 on the Compilation, Release, and Evaluation of Principal Federal Economic Indicators to the previously approved schedule of release dates. The OMB exception, for a period not to exceed six months, was for the sole purpose of providing public release of preliminary monthly trade statistics for the Gulf region.

The data will provide more timely trade statistics on export and import flows in this major international trade gateway. The statistics in this release will have several limitations, the significant being the coverage of the preliminary data in relation to the final data. Analysis of Gulf region export and import goods data indicates the value of preliminary data should be between 70 and 90 percent of the final value reported in the regular monthly trade report, with wider variations by district, port, and industry group.

Preliminary data will be released for the next four months at 10 a.m. on the dates provided below. OMB, in consultation with the Census Bureau, will determine if an optional two-month extension is warranted.

If you have questions please contact nick.orsini@census.gov.

• Current and Historical Releases

  • September 2005 (Friday, 21 October 2005)
  • October 2005 (Monday, 21 November 2005)
  • November 2005 (Tuesday, 20 December 2005)
  • December 2005 (Friday, 20 January 2006)

• Gulf Coast District/Port Reports