JOC Top 100 Importers, 2014

JOC TOP 100 IMPORTERS in 2014: U.S. FOREIGN TRADE VIA OCEAN CONTAINER TRANSPORT

	2014 Rank	JOC Top 100 Importers	TEUs in 2014	Headquarters	Sector	Notes
	1	Wal-Mart Stores	775,400	Bentonville, Ark.	Retail	Held a U.S. Manufacturing Summit in August 2013 with 500 suppliers. Committed to spend additional $50 billion for more U.S. products over 10 years.
	2	Target	521,300	Minneapolis	Retail	Has 1,795 stores in the U.S. and 38 distribution centers.
	3	Home Depot	342,400	Atlanta	Retail	Operates 2,269 retail stores, including 1,977 stores in the U.S., Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands, Guam, Canada and Mexico.
	4	Lowe's	249,000	Mooresville, N.C.	Retail	Lowe's has more than 1,840 home improvement and hardware stores serving 15 million customers a week in the U.S., Canada and Mexico.
	5	Dole Food	199,600	Westlake Village, Calif.	Diversified	Global producer and marketer of high-quality fresh fruit and fresh vegetables in April 2013 sold Itochu worldwide packaged foods and certain fresh businesses in Asia while retaining a smaller fresh fruit and vegetable portfolio.
	6	Sears Holding	179,000	Hoffman Estates, Ill.	Retail-Consumer Goods	Operating parent of Kmart and Sears since 2005. Operates 1,700 stores in U.S. and Canada and closed 234 underperforming stores in 2014. Spun off Land's End in 2014, but kept its shops in Sears stores. Among its brands are Kenmore, Craftsman, DieHard, Kardashian Kollection, Joe Boxer and Sandra by Sandra Lee.
	7	Chiquita Brands International	171,000	Charlotte, N.C..	Fresh Fruit and Vegetables	Operates Great White Fleet liner services. Moved port call from Gulfport, Mississippi, to New Orleans after nearly a 40-year hiatus.
	8	Heineken USA	149,700	White Plains, N.Y.	Beverages	Operates in more than 70 countries and 160 breweries. Offers more than 200 specialty beers and ciders, including Heineken, Amstel and Fosters.
	9	Samsung America	147,400	Ridgefield Park, N.J.	Conglomerate	Member of Samsung Group of Korea. Global flagship unit is electronics. U.S. divisions include electronics, enterprise, telecommunications and semiconductors.
	10	Family Dollar Stores/Dollar Tree	135,100	Matthews, N.C., Chesapeake, Va.	Retail	After 10 months, the $8.5 billion acquisition by Dollar Tree of the Family Dollar chain should close by June. The duo operates 13,000 discount variety retail stores in the U.S. and Canada under their names and also Deal$, Dollar Tree Deal$, Dollar Giant and Dollar Bills.
	11	Ikea International	132,700	Conshohocken, Pa.	Retail	Owned by the Stichting INGKA Foundation, the group has 315 stores in 27 countries, including 51 in North America. Has 1,002 suppliers in 51 countries.
	12	Philips Electronics North America	127,300	Andover, Mass.	Electronics	Subsidiary of Dutch company Royal Phillips Electronics. Three divisions — health care, lighting and consumer lifestyle electronics.
	13	LG Group	127,200	Englewood Cliffs, N.J.	Conglomerate	South Korea industrial group. Major business units are chemicals, electronics/home appliances and telecommunications. Made the first radio in Korea in 1959. Formerly known as Lucky Goldstar.
	14	Costco Wholesale	118,300	Issaquah, Wash.	Retail	Operates 652 warehouses, including 463 in the U.S. and Puerto Rico, 87 in Canada, 33 in Mexico, 25 in the U.K., 19 in Japan, 10 in Taiwan, 10 in Korea and five in Australia.
	15	Nike	103,700	Beaverton, Ore.	Footwear & Apparel	Sells footwear, apparel, equipment and accessory products worldwide.
	16	Jarden	101,400	Boca Raton, Fla.	Outdoor & Home Goods	Supplies penny blanks to U.S. Mint. Brands include Ball Jars, Yankee Candle, First Alert, Mr. Coffee, Sunbeam, Oster, Crock-Pot, Pine Mountain Fire Logs and Coleman. $8.3 billion in 2014 net sales.
	17	J.C. Penney	95,900	Plano, Texas	Retail	Has 1,020 apparel and home furnishings stores in U.S. and Puerto Rico. Adding more Sephora shops among the stores.
	18	General Electric	84,000	Fairfield, Conn.	Conglomerate	Diversified global infrastructure and finance firm. More than half of its revenue has been generated outside the United States.
	19	Ashley Furniture Industries	77,900	Arcadia, Wis.	Furniture	Private manufacturer and distributor to licensed Ashley Furniture Home Stores and to dealers.
	20	Red Bull North America	76,300	Santa Monica, Calif.	Beverages	Private Austrian company with high-caffeine energy drink Owns U.S. Red Bull soccer team and Newark, New Jersey, soccer stadium.
	21	Whirlpool	70,500	Benton Harbor, Mich.	Appliances	Whirlpool, Maytag, KitchenAid, Jenn-Air, and Amana brands sold primarily to retailers, distributors and builders. To acquire American Dryer Corp. in July.
	22	Williams-Sonoma	60,700	San Francisco	Retail	Nationwide specialty retailer with 601 stores: Brands include Williams-Sonoma, Pottery Barn, Pottery Barn Kids, PBteen, West Elm, W-S Home, Rejuvination, Mark and Graham, others.
	23	Gap Stores	56,200	San Francisco	Retail	Specialty retailer operates five apparel brands: Gap, Old Navy, Banana Republic, Intermix, and Athleta brands. Added 40 new stores in greater China in 2014. Piper Lime closure.
	24	Mercedes Benz USA/Daimler Trucks	55,200	Montvale, N.J.; Portland, Ore.	Motor Vehicles/Trucks	Daimler of Germany units. Mercedes Benz USA is responsible for U.S. distribution and marketing of Mercedes-Benz, Maybach, smart, and Sprinter products. Daimler Trucks in Portland is a seperate business unit.
	25	Big Lots	54,200	Columbus, Ohio	Closeout Retail	Formerly Consolidated Stores, the closeout retailer has more than 1,300 retail stores in the U.S. and has five distribution centers that total nearly 9 million square feet.
	26	Kohl's	51,100	Menomonee, Wis.	Retail	Kohl's operates more than 1,164 family oriented department stores in 49 states and nine distribution centers.
	27	Pier 1 Imports	48,400	Fort Worth	Retail	Furniture and accessories retailer has more than a thousand stores in the U.S. and Canada.
	28	Dorel Industries	47,600	Montreal	Furniture/Bicycles	Brands include Ameriwood, Schwinn, Mongoose, Pacific Cycle, Cycling Sports, Altra Furniture, Cosco Home and Office among others. Annual sales reached US$2.7 billion in 2014.
	29	Rooms to Go	46,800	Seffner, Fla.	Retail Furniture	Independent furniture retailer with more than 150 showroom stores with packaged room settings.
	30	Dollar General	46,000	Goodlettsville, Tenn.	Retail	Operates 11,950 discount variety retail stores in 43 states. Its hostile bid for Family Dollar was rejected.
	31	Michelin North America	45,900	Greenville, S.C.	Mfg-Tire & Rubber	Michelin North America operates 68 plants in 17 countries. The 10-year $1.7 billion U.S. military contract for all ground and aircraft tires ends in 2017. In e-commerce strategy, bought BlackCircles.com, leading tire e-tailer in the U.K. and a 40 percent stake in French tire e-tailer Allopneu SAS.
	32	Toyota Tsusho America	45,000	Georgetown, Ky.	Conglomerate	Operates trading and supply chain management within Toyota Group. Global headquarters in Japan. Divisions include metals, machinery/electronics, chemicals/plastics, automotive, agriculture/food, and consumer products.
	33	Staples	43,600	Framingham, Mass.	Retail	Operates throughout North and South America, Europe, Asia, Australia and New Zealand.
	34	Hewlett-Packard	43,300	Palo Alto, Calif	Computer Technology	Offers IT infrastructure, global services, business and home computing, as well as imaging and printing. In joint venture with Foxconn with cloud-optimized servers.
	35	Michaels Stores	40,300	Irving, Texas	Retail	Largest arts and crafts specialty retailer with 1,168 Michaels and 120 Araron Brothers stores.
	36	BMW of North America	40,000	Woodcliff Lake, N.J.	Motor Vehicles	Imports and distributes BMW brand vehicles along with parts for the South Carolina assembly plant. A regional distribution Center is in Nazareth, Pennsylvania.
	37	Sony Corp. of America	39400	New York	Electronics	Portfolio includes music, entertainment, computers, electronics and semiconductors.
TIE	38	Electrolux	38,800	Charlotte, N.C.; Stockholm	Appliances	Household and commercial appliance brands include Electrolux, Tappan, Frigidaire and Eureka, others. Sells more than 50 million products to customers in 150 countries every year.
TIE	38	Anheuser Busch InBev	38,800	St. Louis, Mo.	Beverages	Leuven, Belgium-based. More than 200 beer brands, including Budweiser Corona, Stella Artois, Beck's, others. Global revenue of $47.1 billion in 2014. Its merger with Grupo Modelo in a transaction valued at $20.1 billion was completed a year ago.
	40	Nestle USA/Nestle Waters	38,000	Glendale, Calif.; St. Louis; Greenwich, Conn.	Food/Beverages/Pet Food	Swiss parent is the world's largest food company and tallied $9.7 billion in 2014 sales. Has 25 plants, 43 distribution centers in the U.S. In addition to cocoa, Nutrition, Purina PetCare and Nestle Waters are core segments.
	41	Toys 'R' Us	37,200	Wayne, N.J.	Toys-Retail	Has a 60-foot ferris wheel in its Times Square flagship store. Owned by private equity. Acquired FAO Schwartz, etoys and KB Toys over the last several years. Toys R Us and Babies R Us tally 870 stores in the U.S; 725 international stores and 235 licensed stores in 37 countries.
	42	Sol Group Marketing	35,400	Pompano Beach, Fla.	Fruit	A subsidiary of Ireland's Fyffes PLC. Specializes in cantaloupes, watermelons and honeydews from its farms in Honduras. Also markets Turbana bananas and Fyffe pineapples.
	43	Bridgestone Americas	35,200	Nashville, Tenn.	Tires, Auto Products	Americas holding company for Japan's Bridgestone Corp. Has more than 50 production facilities in the Americas.
	44	Mattel	34,600	El Segundo, Calif.	Toys	Brands include Barbie, Hot Wheels, Matchbox, American Girl, and Fisher-Price. Acquired Mega Brands' Mega Bloks last year.
	45	American Honda Motor, Honda North America	34,500	Torrance, Calif.	Automotive Goods	Makes automobiles, motorcycles, and power equipment. First U.S. plant opened in 1979. Subsidiaries of Japan's Honda Motor.
	46	Panasonic Corp. of North America	31,700	Newark, N.J.	Electronics	Formerly known as Matsushita Electric of America. Brands include Panasonic, Technics, Quasar and JVC. New headquarters in Newark, New Jersey.
	47	Gildan Activewear	33,800	Montreal	Apparel Mfg.	Manufacturer and marketer of knit apparel for logo, screen-print markets and work uniforms. Sock and underwear supplier operates vertically integrated, manufacturing facilities, which are primarily located in Central America and the Caribbean Basin.
	48	Hankook Tire America	33,300	Wayne, N.J.	Tires	Parent is South Korea's Hankook Tire Co. The company was feted by the White House for its foreign direct investment in its business expansion. Markets and distributes through independent dealers.
	49	Canon USA	33,200	Melville, N.Y.	Photo Imaging	Subsidiary of Japan's Canon Inc. Moved to new headquarters in Melville, New York, in 2012.
	50	Best Buy	33,100	Richfield, Minn.	Retail	Consumer electronics and appliance retailer operates 1,700 stores in large and small formats.
	51	Southern Wines & Spirits of America	32,700	Miami	Beverages	Founded in 1968, the wine, spirits and beverage distributor operates in many states along with several joint ventures. Represents more than 1,500 suppliers with more than 5,000 brands.
	52	Caterpillar	29,700	Peoria, Ill.	Mfg-Machinery	Manufacturer of construction and mining equipment, diesel and natural gas engines, industrial gas turbines and diesel-electric locomotives. Total 2014 sales and revenue were $55.2 billion.
	53	Arauco Wood Products	29,600	Atlanta	Forest Products	Sales and service support for Santiago, Chile, headquarters. Parent is Celulosa Arauco y Constitucion, Chile's largest pulp and paper producer. Products include lumber, plywood, wood pulp, composites and millworks.
	54	Macy*s	29,400	Cincinnati	Retail	The company had $28.1 billion in 2014 sales and operates the Macy's, Bloomingdale's outlets and the Bluemercury brands with about 885 stores in 45 states, Guam and Puerto Rico. Dubai has a licensed Bloomingdales.
	55	Spectrum Brands Holdings	29,100	Middleton, Wisc.	Appliances	Spectrum brands include Black & Decker, George Foreman, FarberwareÂ®, Juiceman, Remington, Rayovac, and Toastmaster. Spectrum's Applica Consumer Products and Salton merger has been rebranded as Russell Hobbs.
TIE	56	Hanes Brands	28,500	Winston-Salem, N.C.	Apparel	Branded under basics include L'Eggs, Just My Size, Champion, Bali, Playtex, Wonderbra, and Barely There. Maidenform Brands was acquired in late 2013.
TIE	56	Mobis Parts America	28,500	West Point, Ga.; Mongomery, Ala.	Auto Parts	Seoul headquarters. Previously known as Hyundai Precision Industry. Auto parts and module supplier to both Hyundai and Kia with plants in Alabama and Georgia.
	58	Ross Stores	28,400	Pleasanton, Calif.	Retail	Discount apparel and home goods retailer operates more than a thousand Ross Dress for Less stores and dd's DISCOUNT stores.
	59	Bed Bath & Beyond	28,300	Union, N.J.	Retail	Bed, Bath & Beyond owns more than 1,500 stores, including Christmas Tree Shops, Harmon, buybuyBaby and a B to B distributor, LinenHoldings. Acquired Cost Plus World Market in June 2012.
	60	Nissan North America\Nissan Trading	28,200	Franklin, Tenn.; Farmington Hills, Mich.	Automobiles	U.S.manufacturing plants in Smyrna and Decherd, Tennessee, and in Canton, Mississippi. New York City selected the the Nissan NV200 as the city's exclusive taxi starting in late 2013.
	61	Continental Tire	27,900	Fort Mill, S.C.	Tires	Global headquarters in Hanover, Germany. High performance tire manufacturer for automobile, truck and bus. Also known as Conti-tires.
	62	Fresh Del Monte Produce	27,500	Coral Gables, Fla.	Foods	Fresh Del Monte Produce is not affiliated with Del Monte Foods, the owner of the Del Monte trademark.
TIE	63	Hasbro	26,400	Pawtucket, R.I.	Toys	Brands include Play-Doh, Mr. Potato Head, Transformers, Nerf, Playskool, My Little Pony, G.I. Joe, Monopoly along with a Sesame Street toy line.
TIE	63	Keystone Automotive Industries	26,400	Exeter, Pa.	Auto Parts	Wholesale distributor and marketer of aftermarket automotive equipment and accessories with six warehouses, 44 cross-docks and 350 delivery trucks.
	65	Gea Products	25,700	Northvale, N.J.	Appliances	Farm food technology solutions in engineering processes including heat transfer and refrigeration.
	66	Vanity Fair	24,800	Greensboro, N.C.	Apparel and Footwear	$12 billion company has 30 plus brands, including Timberland, The North Face, Nautica, Wrangler, Vans, others.
	67	Hon Hai Precision Industries	23,600	Houston	Electronics	Anchor company of the Taiwan-based contract electronics manufacturer Hon Hai/Foxconn Technology Group. Also offers design, engineering, machine tooling and after sales services. Largest exporter in greater China.
TIE	68	Conair	23,500	East Windsor, N.J.	Appliances & Personal Care	Private personal care company with distribution centers in East Windsor, New Jersey; Phoenix, Arizona; and a manufacturing facility in Rantoul, Illinois.
TIE	68	Itochu International	23,500	New York	Conglomerate	North American unit of parent trading company Itochu Japan. Bought Dole's global packaged foods and Asia fresh businesses in April 2013.
	70	Bob's Discount Furniture	22,500	Manchester, Conn,	Furniture Retailer	Operates 57 discount furniture howrooms in 11 states concentrated in the Northeast. Serves free coffee and dessert. Delivers 15,000 pieces a week through nine delivery hubs. Distribution centers in Taftville, Connecticut, and Perryman, Maryland.
	71	TJX	22,300	Framingham, Mass.	Retail	"Opportunistic buying" discount retailer of apparel and home fashions. Store brands include HomeGoods, TJ Maxx and Marshalls.
	72	Phillips Van Heusen	21,700	New York	Apparel	Brands include Calvin Klein, Tommy Hilfiger, Van Heusen, IZOD, ARROW, Speedo, Warner's and Olga.
	73	Coaster of America	21,600	Santa Fe Springs, Calif.	Furniture	U.S. furniture distributor with seven branches supporting nationwide dealer network.
	74	Heritage Home Group	21,500	High Point, N.C.	Furniture	Heritage Home Group has acquired the assets of Furniture Brands Intl. and now owns Broyhill, Thomasville, Lane, Drexel and others.
	75	Payless Shoe Source	20,900	Topeka, Kansas	Retail	Operates 4,400 stores in 30 countries. A privately held company owned by Golden Gate Capital and Blum Capital Partners.
	76	Adidas Group	20,700	Portland, Ore.	Footwear and Apparel	Based in Germany. Adidas brands include Taylor-Made-Adidas Golf, Rockport, and Reebok.
	77	Falken Tire	20,400	Rancho Cucamonga, Calif.	Tires	Subsidiary of Sumitomo Rubber Industries of Japan, produces high-performance racing tires. Distribution centers in California, Tennessee, New Jersey, Texas and Florida.
	78	Raymour & Flanigan Furniture	20,000	Liverpool, N.Y.	Retail	Northeast U.S. family owned furniture retailer with 95 full-line showrooms, 11 clearance centers and one distribution center.
	79	Giti Tire USA	19,800	Rancho Cucamonga, Calif.	Tires	Headquartered in Singapore and entered China market in 1993. China's largest tire manufacturer also has plants in Indonesia manufacturing radial and bias tires.
	80	Tractor Supply	19,400	Brentwood, Tenn.	Retail	Begun as a small tractor parts business, it now has 1,300 stores in 48 states in rural America.
	81	L Brands	19,300	Columbus, Ohio	Retail	Brands include Victoria's Secret, PINK, Bath and Body Works, La Senza and Henri Bendel. Mast Global provides production, sourcing and logistics.
	82	JoAnn Fabric and Craft Stores	19,100	Hudson, Ohio	Retail	The chain sells fabric, craft and sewing materials. Previously publicly traded, merged with private equity firm Leonard Green & Partners in 2011. Has distribution centers in Hudson, Ohio; Visalia, California; and Opelika, Alabama.
	83	Del Monte Foods	18,900	San Francisco	Foods	Fresh Del Monte Produce is not affiliated with Del Monte Foods, the owner of the Del Monte trademark.
TIE	84	Marubeni America	18,700	New York	Conglomerate	Largest overseas subsidiary of Japanese trading house Marubeni Corp. Top products include chemicals and machinery.
TIE	84	Berkshire Hathaway	18,700	Throughout U.S.	Diversified	Among Warren Buffet's companies that jmport are Fruit of the Loom/Union Underwear, Benjamin Moore, Shaw Industries, Johns Manville, See's Candies and others. Also owns BNSF and XTRA Corp.
	86	Walgreens Boots Alliance	18,600	Deerfield, Ill.	Retail	Largest U.S. drugstore chain with 8,699 stores (including Duane Read in 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam and the United States Virgin Islands) combined with Boots Alliance of Europe as of Dec. 31, 2015, with synergies in mind.
	87	DuPont	18,300	Wilmington, Del.	Diversified	DuPont is separating its chemicals business into a new company, Chemours, effective July 1, 2015.
	88	Kroger	18,100	Cincinnati, OH	Retail	Fred Meyers stores are a department store unit of grocery retailer Kroger. Also has jewelry stores and manufacturing plants. Revenue was $108.5 billion in 2014.
TIE	89	Fonterra USA	17,500	Rosemont, Ill.	Dairy Products	Largest cooperative in New Zealand with more than 16,000 dairy farmers supplying 22 billion liters of liters of milk a year. Some of the New Zealand production is traded on Global Dairy Trade, an online platform.
TIE	89	John Deere	17,500	Moline, Ill.	Mfg-Equipment	An expanded parts distribution facility in Campinas, Brazil, will open later this year. Overseas, John Deere has six factories in China, five in Brazil, four in India, four in Mexico, two in Russia, among others. In the U.S., there are factories in 11 states.
	91	Skechers USA	17,200	Manhattan Beach, Calif.	Apparel and Footwear	Markets to retailers and has 100 of its own stores. California DC serves North America, and Belgian DC serves Europe.
	92	Yokohama Tire	17,100	Fullerton, Calif.	Tires	North American manuyfactuiring and marketing arm of Tokyo based Yokohama Rubber Co.
	93	CVS Health	16,600	Woonsocket, R.I.	Retail	20 distribution centers with about 11.5 million square feet handle 7,660 stores.
	94	Haier America Trading	16,300	Wayne, N.J.	Appliances	Subsidiary of China's Haier Group. The appliance and consumer electronics business has operated in the U.S. since 1999.
TIE	95	Hyundai Motor Manufacturing	16,200	Montgomery, Ala.	Motor Vehicles	Hyundai's first assembly and manufacturing plant in the U.S. was a $1.7 billion investment and opened in May 2005.
TIE	95	Starbucks	16,200	Seattle	Coffee Retail	22,000 retail stores in 66 countries.
	97	Ta Chen Int'l	16,100	Los Angeles	Metal Manufactures	TCI is a distributor of stainless, aluminum and nickel alloy shapes and products
	98	Euromarket Designs	15,800	Northbrook, Ill.	Retail	Privately owned by the Otto Group of Hamburg, the contemporary home goods retailer known as Crate & Barrel also operates CB2 and partners with the Land of Nod. The 100-store chain has U.S., Canada, Mexico, Singapore and Dubai locations.
	99	Cardinal Health	15,600	Dublin, Ohio	Medical Supplies	Provides pharmaceuticals and medical products to thousands of locations daily. Manufacturers' medical and surgical products, including gloves, surgical apparel and fluid management products.
	100	Toyo Tires	15,400	Cypress, Calif.	Tires	Unit of Japanese tiremaker. Completing fourth expansion project this summer at White, Georgia, warehousing and manufacturing plant.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, contact Marsha Salisbury, JOC research editor, msalisbury@joc.com, 973-776-7828.

About the Rankings The Journal of Commerce's annual Top 100 U.S. Importers and Exporters ranking begins with data from PIERS, a sister product of the JOC within IHS Maritime & Trade, and is enhanced by information gathered from other industry sources. The figures are expressed in 20-foot-equivalent units, or TEUs, the most common measurement of containerized ocean shipping. One standard 40-foot ocean container equals two TEUs. These lists are restricted to shippers — beneficial owners of containerized cargo that entered or exited U.S. ports by ocean vessel during 2014. The statistics do not include shippers associations, carriers, non-vessel-operating common carriers, forwarders or brokers, third-party logistics providers, banks, or "to-order" negotiable bills of lading, or data falling under privacy strictures. International import and export cargoes into and out of the U.S. via air, rail or truck are not included. In tandem with last year's ranking and considerable industry research, the list also identifies corporate subsidiaries and strives to reflect any changes in corporate status related to mergers, acquisitions, spinoffs, formal name changes or bankruptcy filings. We also identify the location of corporate headquarters and, if the global headquarters is outside the U.S., the parent company. We indicate a website if one is available and the industry sector, adding a short note about each company, often recent news or an interesting fact. These rankings represent our best approximation of the total international oceanborne shipments by these companies and their subsidiaries. We welcome your feedback.

For additional insight and analysis of the JOC Top 100 Importers and Exporters in 2014 in the U.S. container trade along with emerging trade trends, tune in on June 23 at 2 p.m. ET for a free 75-minute webcast, featuring Research Editor Marsha Salisbury and Executive Editor Chris Brooks. For more information and to register, go to http://tinyurl.com/k8ubr2c.
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