With St. Patty’s Day approaching, we took a look at imports of Guinness beer.  Looks like there wasn’t much to go around in 2010, but Guinness is back in a big way in 2011.  Enjoy.

The word from the Panjiva research team: we saw a seasonal decline in global trade activity in February.  Specifically, the number of waterborne shipments coming into the U.S. experienced a 15% month-over-month decline from January to February.

Similarly, the number of global manufacturers shipping to the U.S. declined 8% versus last month, which is larger than the 3% decline in 2010, but smaller than the epic 10% decline in 2009.

Additional notes:

• The percentage of significant manufacturers on the Panjiva Watch List increased from 18% to 19%.
• The percentage of significant buyers having done business with a Panjiva Watch List supplier in the preceding three months increased slightly, from 25% to 26%.

Methodological notes:

• Manufacturers that have suffered a 50% or greater decline in volume shipped to American customers in the most recent three month period, versus the same period a year ago, are on the Panjiva Watch List.
• “Significant manufacturers” are companies that have sent 10 or more shipments to American customers within the last year. As of the end of February, there were 93,843 significant manufacturers.
• “Significant buyers” are U.S. companies that have received 10 or more shipments from overseas manufacturers within the last year. As of the end of February, there were 80,593 significant buyers.