Oklahoma Trade Blog

Michelin North America- trade activity

2010-03-20T10:45:00.000-07:00

There are forty (40) individual facilities within the Michelin North America corporate family, each identified by a unique DUNS number. Ten of these locations exhibit trade activity.

The following tables show import totals for Michelin North America from January 1, 2008 to November 28, 2008. Imports by other Michelin facilities (under variant names i.e. Michelin Amerique Du Nord, Michelin Aircraft Tire, Michelin Radial Tires, etc.) only add an additional 685 TEUs.

(click to enlarge)

Inside sources indicate that Michelin imports over X TEUs annually (proprietary info). Since the totals in the tables above are based on complete maritime import transactions, the rest of Michelin’s imported tires are most likely coming from Mexico and Canada by rail and truck.

UCO Int'l Business professor honored

2008-10-17T14:05:00.000-07:00

Dr. William Wardrope, director of international business programs at the University of Central Oklahoma's College of Business Administration, recently received the Guardian Angel Award from the Latino Community Development Agency (LCDA) as a part of their 17th annual recognition luncheon.

The award comes three years after Wardrope established an annual scholarship for Latin American students coming to UCO and developed a partnership with the LCDA to match his gift.

Full story here:
http://www.okcbusiness.com/business_people_view.asp?pID=1374

North American surface transportation jumps

2008-10-01T08:14:00.000-07:00

Is this partly due to dollar devaluation?

North American surface transportation jumps
September 30, 2008 3:06:21 PM

Surface transportation surged in July for trade between the U.S. and Canada and Mexico.

Trade using surface transportation between the United States and its North American Free Trade Agreement partners was 15.9 percent higher in July 2008 than in July 2007, reaching $71.6 billion, according to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics of the U.S. Department of Transportation.

Exports were responsible for the largest part of the increase.

The value of exports carried by truck between the United States and Canada was 16.2 percent higher, while imports carried by truck rose 2.6 percent.
The value of exports carried by truck between the United States and Mexico was 13.8 percent higher while imports carried by truck grew 7.2 percent.

Trucks carried a total of $46.8 million in goods. Railroads and pipelines carried $24.8 million in goods across the North American borders.

from Traffic World

Oil & Gas Related Exports: Pipes

2008-09-24T11:04:00.000-07:00

Pipes, including those used for the oil industry fall under these Harmonized Code categories:

• 3917 Tubes, Pipes And Hoses, And Fittings Thereof (Including Joints, Elbows And Flanges), Of Plastics
• 7304 Tubes, Pipes And Hollow Profiles, Seamless, Of Iron (Other Than Cast) Or Steel
• 7305 Tubes And Pipes Nesoi (Welded Etc.), Of Iron Or Steel
• 7306 Tubes, Pipes And Hollow Profiles Nesoi (Open Seamed Or Welded, Riveted Or Similarly Closed), Of Iron Or Steel
• 7307 Tube Or Pipe Fittings (Including Couplings, Elbows And Sleeves), Of Iron Or Steel

Combined, these products represented a total of $96 million in exports sales for the state.

container ship orders collapse

2008-09-22T06:33:00.000-07:00

September 22, 2008

Orders for new container ships have dried up as vessel charter rates and ocean freight rates tumble and volume growth slows on key liner trade routes.

Enquiries to shipbuilders about new tonnage have “hit the floor,” according to London-based Clarkson, the world’s biggest shipbroker “With volumes and earnings stalling, owners’ taste for newbuilds has slowed right down.”

The collapse in orders, which has affected all ship sizes, follows five straight years of historically high deliveries. Only 179 containerships were contracted in the first eight months of this year, down 49 percent on-year, Clarkson reports. This compares with a record 566 contracts in 2005, 479 in 2006 and 530 in 2007.

From The JOURNAL of COMMERCE ONLINE
Full Story here

What are we Exporting?

2008-07-25T07:43:00.000-07:00

Typically, one-third of the State’s manufactured exports are machinery related. Oklahoma’s largest export sales in 2007 were in Liquid Pumps; Liquid Elevators; and Parts (HS 8413), totaling almost $253 million in sales and accounting for over 5% of all State exports. This was down from its 6.6% share in 2006. Still, Oklahoma ranked as the nation’s 7th largest exporter of liquid pumps.

Oklahoma sends most of its liquid pumps to Canada and Russia. Canada is the destination for a third of all exports of these products. In addition, Oklahoma accounted for an impressive 66% of all U.S. Liquid Pump exports to Russia.

The State’s second greatest exported product was Tires, with export sales of $222 million. Ninety percent of this went to Canada. It is unknown to what extent the closing of Oklahoma City’s Dayton plant will affect tire exports in the years to come. Still, with Goodyear and Michelin remaining, Oklahoma was the nation’s fifth largest exporter of tires with growth from the previous year exceeding 10%.

North American Union

2008-07-08T10:09:00.000-07:00

Tom Coburn is known for his candor, to the point where he doesn't wax blandish to those in his own district. So I was pleased to hear his straightforward comments regarding the "North American Union"

...Coburn was also asked about growing concerns that secretive deals have been made to build a NAFTA Superhighway, which would go right through Oklahoma County, and the potential creation of a North American Union.

“There’s been more Internet traffic on that falsehood,” Coburn said. “It’s something based on fear rather than actual fact.” ("Coburn frank on fiscal issues", The Sunday Sun June 01, 2008) Full story here: http://www.mwcsun.com/local/local_story_153111916.html

People who fancy themselves "enemies" of the NWO can somehow get secretive information that even people in the NWO government can't get. That leads me to conclude that conspiracy believers have a complex network of spies planted in key positions, who monitor the secret agenda and then disseminate the details to their friends with websites, right?

Seriously though, a greater degree of international cooperation across a few widely divergent sectors or policy issues is not an indication of a union. And you can't say "open your eyes, the evidence IS happening!" No. The political and financial changes necessary for a monetary union simply aren't happening.

What is going on in the US economy is not "evidence" of a three country union but rather the chaos created by multiple interests working against each other, but still having an effect on each other (energy, currency valuation, exports, imports, corrupt financial practices, and the military industrial complex).

The North American Union is believed by people whose everyday lives don't deal with international finance, NAFTA, and the European Union. They see a few examples of international cooperation and assume there are connections where there really are none.

Hardcore NAU believers always talk about NAFTA and the EU as proof. I am pretty familiar with both- more so I dare say than NAU believers. First, NAFTA is nothing like the European monetary union. A monetary union wouldn't really be a next logical step because NAFTA isn't close enough to being a monetary union. There would have to be dozens of "next logical steps" over the course of decades to get from NAFTA to a monetary union. There is no customs union, to name one.

In fact, there are things in NAFTA that would make a North American Union (NAU) extremely difficult if not impossible, such as the side deal on import surges, management of petrochemicals, etc. NAFTA would have to be re-written or done away with altogether in order for there to be a monetary union.

Second, you don't just start printing a new kind of money and make everyone use it. In Europe the currency union was a massive undertaking that required years of coordination among banks and legislatures and was carried in the news daily. Textbooks were written on it. Exactly where does this effort show up in our Congressional Record?

The implementation of an international plan would have recognizable and specific effects in immigration, public spending, and financial markets that no conspiracy could hide. If there is going to be a union, then Mexico and Canada would have to subsume our public debt. Union would also mean an alignment of interest rates among all three countries. Now if there is a NAU conspiracy to make this happen without our knowledge, the the burden of bringing their interest rates into alignment would be totally theirs. This would throw their labor markets into chaos like it did in Europe. Getting the governments and banks of Canada and Mexico to share U.S. public debt- and make the macro-economic sacrifices to do it secretly- would be more difficult than establishing a colony on Venus.

It would not be in Canada's interests to unify currencies when the US dollar has been declining in value for the past two years. The Canadians certainly don't want our banks steering their financial boat after the recent mortgage fiasco. And it would not be in Mexican industry's interests when they've brought several trade complaints against us to the WTO.

The real issue is that Canada and Mexico simply don't want a union. Canadians don't want to be a part of our unwieldy economy and Mexico doesn't want our business laws, financial transparency laws, or our environmental standards. There are too many people who make too much money outside of the law in Mexico. That's not a value judgment, that's just how some business is conducted in their culture. So whose corporate laws will prevail after a union? Mexico wouldn't function with our transparency standards, which would be absolutely vital for merely aligning exchange rates, not to mention a union. Our businesses don't want their business environment, and their businesses don't want ours.

Here is the saddest part, the people that DO believe in it and who write online should be able to present a reasoned and respectable debate with those who make policy and demonstrate point by point why non-believers are wrong, and why non-believers are misinterpreting the facts. But how do they debate? How do they address non-believers? It usually goes something like

"You don''t believe in the conspiracy because you are stupid."

If you google NAU, you'll see the word "stupid" used more often than at grade school recess. Why? Because ad hominem is the best they can do. So if you believe in an immanent NAU, you are exempt from common respect and civility.

One thing we can agree on is that the loss of civility and common courtesy is undermining our social fabric. It is ironic that people who are "in the know" and claim to be better Americans than the rest of us, are fully participating in a trend that erodes the greatness of our nation.

So those who deal with international trade issues on a daily basis are somehow blinded to an international conspiracy... but random bloggers with no experience in international matters and journalists with little knowledge of macro-economics somehow know the real story? No. I don't think so.

See also:

- http://www.snopes.com/politics/immigration/nau.asp
- http://www.rightwingnews.com/archives/week_2006_07_16.PHP#006080
- http://blogcritics.org/archives/2007/03/25/090958.php
- http://www.townhall.com/columnists/JohnHawkins/2007/09/14/the_non-existent_north_american_union

There is no good reason for a monetary union and no one with influence wants it. People argue it exists because they have invested so much time believing in sinister agendas in the first place. Just as is happens in the religious apocalyptic book industry- indeed they are cut from the same cloth- the NAU will conveniently be forgotten to death in favor of a new, shinier conspiracy. [UPDATE June 2010: Democrats control two key elements for pushing international agendas, the Presidency and the Senate. Still no NAU. Who wants to subsume our debt after our recent financial fiasco?]

Exports by County

2008-06-24T21:16:00.000-07:00

Well, kinda. Here is a look at exports from several counties in the central part of our state...

These numbers are for 2007 (I didn't make these maps, by the way. A hardworking intern did). If you add up all counties, the total will be far below the official export total for the state. Why?

This is really company information. What we are looking at is this:

Total waterborne shipment values for all the exporting companies in each county.

Now, not all exporters will be represented here because 1) this shows us waterborne exports while most of our stuff goes to Mexico and Canada via interstate; and 2) many goods are consolidated for shipment in other states by the freight forwarders so the products are counted toward another location, probably a port. As a matter of fact, some large exporters often and purposefully export their products in such a way that they are difficult to track.

So this doesn't tell us much about the movement of state-produced goods. But its still instructive because it does tell us something about our local exporters and how they ship.

Here are some other counties...

UPDATE: You may have noticed the low number for Grady county and, like me, wondered about such a low dollar figure showing up in export data. Perhaps the fine blogger over at Okiedoke has found the answer :)

Exports from the Cities

2008-06-14T12:21:00.001-07:00

There is some information that allows us a glimpse at exports from the major metro areas, however the most recent available data is 2006. That year, the metropolitan area of Tulsa exported $2.2 billion in merchandise. Oklahoma City followed with $869 million in export sales, while Lawton was the origin for $9.7 million. Source: "Exports by Metro Area" Office of Trade and Industry Information, International Trade Administration

These aren't the most accurate numbers. In fact, U.S. Census quit doing a city export series. The data was so inaccurate, there was no point in continuing. There are just too many variables. For example, maybe a shipment came from a company in Oklahoma City or Okmulgee, but the freight forwarder that picked it up was based in Tulsa.

So what about the numbers above? There is probably a little more work going into it these days, ergo the year lag. Still, the ratios are probably useful in showing the difference between the cities. Even if we had 100% correct data, Tulsa is still going to show as the bigger exporter. It has more exporting companies and the Port of Catoosa. Plus, a lot of Oklahoma City goods probably go straight down to Dallas or Houston.

There is port-specific data out there. Port of Catoosa usually carries it on their website if anyone is interested. Even better, drive up there and see if they'll give you a tour :)

Economic Disruptions to the Global Economy and Trade

2008-06-09T07:37:00.000-07:00

We have witnessed a dramatic fall in the value of the dollar, a surge in oil prices, and the worldwide financial fallout resulting from the collapse of the sub-prime mortgage market. The Spring Conference of the International Trade Data Users will address these recent economic events and their impact on global trade and investment trends. Topics include:

Mandatory Electronic Filing of Export Declaration Information – Impact on Data Collection and Statistical Outputs
The Need for Quality Trade Information by the Growing Chinese Economy – What is Available and What is Required
Recommendations for Standardizing Definitions of International Commodity Trade Statistics and Cargo Flows
The Impact of Trade Shifts on Container Cargo Logistics

Co-sponsored by the Weissman Center for International Business at Baruch College.

ITDU Conference June 17
Registration 8:00. Conference begins at 8:45
Baruch College Newman Conference Center
151 E. 25 St., Fl 7, New York
Visit the ITDU website for the detailed Agenda and Registration.
www.itdu.org

Correction to Daily Oklahoman article

2008-06-06T08:58:00.000-07:00

I suppose this isn't exactly a correction to an article found in the Daily Oklahoman, but rather an addendum.

In the article "Oklahoma finds markets worldwide for its goods" (By Debbie Blossom, June 6, 2008) a small piece of information was excluded that could change the impression given to readers. The quote:

This is the sixth year for the report. Chamber official Mike Seney said it includes detailed statistics on Oklahoma's top exporting products and markets.

And while the numbers are impressive, the report is on the conservative side. It doesn't include products made here and then sent to other states to be assembled and shipped overseas...

Addendum: The Oklahoma Department of Commerce has been doing an international trade report for over 10 years. While the Chamber's piece is done on contract by a publishing agency in New York, the trade report done by the Oklahoma Department of Commerce is done with the cooperation of local researchers and is more detailed in trade data and the industry-specific trends preferred by economic developers. The state will also expand on the report at the request of companies for a customized analysis.

Although the state agency is cited in the article, the Oklahoma Export Report was released on the agency's website at least a week prior to the newspaper article. In fact, the Oklahoma Department of Commerce is usually first in releasing its report. However the Daily Oklahoman, typically waits until the Chamber is ready regardless of how much earlier the state report is released. The article- done every year- gives the impression that the State Chamber is the primary source of information for state international trade information.

The Daily Oklahoman has a reputation for ignoring technical contributions made by state agencies. For example, when major local investment is announced (a plant opening, new wharehouse, etc) the Daily Oklahoman will cite and interview local economic developers and attorneys when- in order to make these projects happen- the very same people lean heavily on state staff to do the bulk of the work. But we wouldn't want to distort the picture with facts.

To clarify, this blog addition isn't about the State Chamber or their information. The point I am attempting to make here is about the newspaper's ongoing practice of pretending that state government has nothing to say or no expertise. In fact, I am very familiar with the agency that produces the Chamber's report, Manzella Trade Communications, and I have nothing to say but good about their work. It is solid macro analysis and their staff is highly professional. I intend on promoting some of their upcoming media initiatives on this blog.

Download the Oklahoma Chamber's Report from this site.

Download the Oklahoma Export Report by the Oklahoma Department of Commerce from this site. If this report looks similar to some things on this blog, that's because I am one of the local analysts that puts it together.

Currency devaluation & State Exports

2008-05-27T15:26:00.000-07:00

The last two years have seen a substantial decrease in the value of the U.S. Dollar relative to other currencies. This creates opportunities for U.S. exporters as the weak dollar works in our favor and U.S. products become more affordable for buyers in other countries.

This is good news for attracting foreign direct investment as well. It is generally accepted, although not a rule, that FDI increases as the host country’s currency devalues. Like exports, property and industrial equipment are more easily affordable. It remains to be seen exactly how exchange rates affect FDI into Oklahoma.

As the chart below shows, the growth in state exports was consistent across price and quantity until 2006 – 2007, when the value of the U.S. dollar began to drop. Oklahoma export sales increased 4%, while the quantity of state exports (in this case, kilograms) increased a dramatic 59%.

Oklahoma Exports- a quick glimpse

2008-05-23T15:10:00.000-07:00

Low population states don't get much attention paid to their exports. However, exports are critical to the millions of workers and citizens in those states. Oklahoma exports highlights...