Location: the river
Ports along the Mississippi handle 56% of the nation’s grain shipments and the nation’s top market share for import steel, natural rubber, plywood, and coffee. Gulf Coast ports anticipate growth from increased Asian markets and expansion of the Panama Canal.
The Port of New Orleans connects to 19,000 miles of inland waterways. It is also the only deep water port in the U.S. served by six class-one railroads, providing direct access rail service to anywhere in the country. There are also ocean carriers, barge lines, and truck lines.
The 52,000 port-related jobs are reasons for people to live here. Shipbuilding, aerospace manufacturing, military operations, the cruise industry, tourism, and the petrochemical industry require more people.
Including the oil and gas production in the Gulf of Mexico, Louisiana is the second leading natural gas producer in the country and the third leading crude oil producer. Crude oil production and imports that are not sent to other states are processed at Louisiana’s 19 operating refineries, clustered mostly along the Lower Mississippi River and in the Lake Charles area.
- © 2009 Christine Allen Ewy