Port of New York & New Jersey, New York—Water Gateway

The maritime Port of New York and New Jersey was the nation’s second busiest waterborne freight gateway for international trade by value of shipments in 2003. It ranked fourth overall among all land, water, and air gateways with over $101 billion dollars of international freight moving through it. This amount of trade represents about 13 percent of the value of U.S. international waterborne freight shipments and 5 percent of total U.S. international merchandise trade by all modes of transportation.

By weight, the facility is ranked third among all U.S. water gateways. Over 6 percent of all U.S. international waterborne tonnage (78 million tons) moved through this port in 2003.

The Port of New York and New Jersey handled 2.8 million TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units) in 2003, making it third in the number of TEUs handled, behind the California ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach. Of the 4,900 vessel calls at the port in 2003, 47 percent were container ships, and 27 percent were tanker ships.

Imports accounted for the lion’s share of both tonnage and value of the freight handled by the port, with 89 percent (69 million short tons) of the total tonnage and 76 percent ($77 billion) of the value coming from imports.

Between 1999 and 2003, the value of merchandise trade through the Port of New York and New Jersey increased by 40 percent—a 42 percent increase for imports and a 36 percent increase for exports. During the same period the tonnage handled through this port increased by 27 percent.

In 2003, Canada was the largest origin country for imports and China was the largest destination country for exports of trade through the port. By weight, the top-5 origin countries for imports accounted for one-third of imports through the Port of New York and New Jersey while the top-5 export destination countries accounted for 40 percent of this port’s exports. The top foreign ports of origin and destination for this port were Point Tupper, Nova Scotia, Canada and Hong Kong, China, respectively.

The top import cargo commodities on a tonnage basis were beverages, vehicles, and plastic, while the top general cargo export commodities were wood pulp, plastic, and machinery. The Port of New York and New Jersey continues to be the largest ocean-borne auto-handling port in the nation.¹

• FIGURE 1. Maritime Imports and Exports via Port of New York, 1997-2003
• FIGURE 2. Monthly Maritime Cargo via Port of New York, 2002-2003
• TABLE 1. Value and Weight of U.S. International Merchandise Freight, 2003
• TABLE 2. Top 3 Destination and Origin Countries for International Waterborne Freight via Port of New York, 2003
• TABLE 3. Top 3 Destination and Origin Ports for International Waterborne Freight via Port of New York, 2003
• TABLE 4. Port Calls By Vessel Type, Port of New York, 2003

¹ Commodities information available at http://www.panynj.gov as of Nov. 16, 2004.