The Port of Lake Charles was ranked among the nation’s top 50 exporters in 2013 — a record year for the port, according to a report by the U.S. Commerce Department.

Lake Charles was the 49th-largest export market in the United States last year. Merchandise exports in 2013 totaled $5.7 billion. Export growth from 2012 to 2013 was up $912.3 million from the $4.7 billion in merchandise exported in 2012, a 19.2 percent increase.

The port’s top export markets last year were Mexico, Panama, Ecuador, the Netherlands and Canada. The top export sectors were petroleum and coal products, chemicals, transportation equipment, manufacturing products and electrical equipment.

Bill Rase, the port’s executive director, said the Port of Lake Charles could jump to the top 20 export markets within the next five years because of the $77 billion worth of capital investments in the region.

“Every project that is slated to come online is an export project, so I expect us to leap to the top 10 in total tonnage and easily to the top 20 for export commodities,” he said Wednesday. “This is great news for the port and all the companies associated with the Calcasieu Ship Channel.”

In five years, Rase said, the port will likely double the number of ships that transit the channel.

The Port of Lake Charles made up 12.3 percent of Louisiana’s exports in 2013, according to the report. Merchandise exported from Louisiana supported more than 282,000 jobs in 2013, Commerce Department data show.

The state’s three major port cities — New Orleans, Baton Rouge and Lake Charles — had record exports for the year, along with 23 other metro areas in the nation.

The New Orleans area ranked No. 8 in the nation with $30 billion in merchandise exports, up 23.3 percent from 2012. Baton Rouge ranked No. 45, with exports increasing 8 percent to $6.3 billion.

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Online: www.trade.gov/mas/ian/metroreport.(American Press Archives)