Texas: Export Trading Relationships in the Ports-to-Plains Region

This data is designed to give a measurable picture of the role the Ports-to-Plains Corridor plays in the movement of freight to Mexico and Canada and domestically north through the other eight states of the Ports-to-Plains region.  It will be clear that this role is not just for communities along the backbone corridor, but is based on the probability that as freight moves on a north-south axis through the region, at some point, it will travel on the backbone corridor.  These numbers address only the goods that are initiated within Texas and do not address the intra-state movements, the movements of goods through the region from other states, the movement of imports, nor the goods that move through the region between Mexico and Canada.

By 2015, Texas’s domestic exports by truck to states in the Ports-to-Plains region are projected to grow 82% from 2002 reaching a value of $32.6 billion.  Oklahoma ($16.7 billion) and Colorado ($6.2 billion) are the largest domestic export markets together accounting for 70% of the export trade.

Internationally, in 2011, Texas exported a total of $56.2 billion of goods to Mexico by truck.  This market grew 61.8% since 2004, an increase of $21.8 billion. Summarizing the role of the border crossings of Del Rio, Eagle Pass and Laredo to evaluate the role of Ports-to-Plains on these total truck values, shows an increase in the role of the backbone corridor in export trade.  The included data summarizes this role under PTP.  In 2011, Texas exports by truck through these three border crossings totaled $22.5 billion of the total truck exports with Mexico.  Accounting for 39.3% of total truck exports to Mexico, this amount has grown 125.3% since 2004. The included data breaks this down to the specific border crossings and provides a top ten listing for the commodities moved by surface transportation to Mexico as well as similar lists with the Mexico states of Coahuila, Nuevo Laredo and Tamaulipas. 

Canada was the destination for $13.6 billion of Texas exports by truck in 2011.  That market has grown 69.9% since 2004.  On the northern border, the border crossings of Sweetgrass MT, Wild Horse MT, Raymond MT and Portal ND are used to evaluate the role of Ports-to-Plains on these total truck values.  Exports through those border crossings have grown significantly faster than the total trade by truck, reaching 173.5% since 2004. The market share of Texas truck trade exports to Canada using the Ports-to-Plains region has grown almost 10% since 2004. Once again the Canada data breaks this down to the specific border crossings and provides a top ten listing for the commodities moved by surface transportation to Canada as well as similar lists with the Canadian provinces of Alberta, British Columbia and Saskatchewan.

In summary, truck exports from Texas domestically and internationally to Canada and Mexico continue to grow in value and the market share using the border crossings served by the corridor continues to grow. To see the full data, look at the information below.

The international trade data comes from Bureau of Transportation Statistics North American Transborder Freight Data (http://www.bts.gov/programs/international/transborder/TBDR_QA.html).  domestic data is from the Freight Analysis Framework by Center for Transportation Analysis in the Oak Ridge National Laboratory under funding from the Federal Highway Administration (http://faf.ornl.gov/fafweb/Extraction2.aspx).

Link to PDF of Data