Nashville and Memphis are among the “Top 50 Cities for Global Trade” in the United States according to a special report in Global Trade magazine. The survey ranked cities by their export volume and some earned additional superlatives. Nashville came in at #41 with $5.7 billion in international exports, with Canada, Mexico and Saudi Arabia ranking among the top international markets. Memphis ranked #24, with much of its $11.1 billion in export business being done with Camada, Mexico and China. Memphis also earned the superlative “Best Logistics Infrastructure.” The excerpts for Memphis and Nashville follow below. A tip of the hat to our friends at the International Business Council, Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce for sharing the news.

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Best Logistics Infrastructure

24. Memphis, Tennessee

Memphis, TN-MS-AR

$11.1 billion | Canada, Mexico, China | Misc. Manufactured Products, Computer and Electronic Products, Paper

Three interstate highways, two major large-volume railroad crossings at the Mississippi River—with freight running both east-west and north-south—the second-busiest inland port in the U.S., plus four railroad and two highway bridges connecting adjacent states across the Great Mississippi, all amount to Memphis as our pick for Best Logistics Infrastructure. There’s a reason FedEx established its global “Super Hub” at Memphis’ International Airport. Freight lines running through Memphis include BNSF, Union Pacific, CSX and Norfolk Southern, connecting such major cities as Dallas, Houston, Chicago, St. Louis and Indianapolis. Though it’s well connected for railway, it was the city’s natural high position along the Mississippi that established it as an economic force, free of flood concerns. Memphis aptly took its name from an Egyptian capital along the Nile River when it was founded in 1819 in part by “Old Hickory” himself, Andrew Jackson. At various points in its history, Memphis has been the world’s leading market for cotton, hardwood lumber and, believe it or not, mules. –Patrick Dooley

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41. Nashville, Tennessee

Nashville-Davidson-Murfreesboro-Franklin, TN

$5.7 billion | Canada, Mexico, Saudi Arabia | Transportation Equipment, Computer and Electronic Products, Electrical Equipment

The success of Nashville early in its existence was in large part due to its river and railroad access, and today the city enjoys the added benefit of a network of colleges and universities. Nashville experienced economic booms following the Civil War, in the 1970s, again in the 1990s, and remains an exporting force today via traditional products. Nashville is one of the nation’s top exporters of textiles and fabrics, plastics and rubber, printed matter, and forestry and logging. Classically American, we must say. –Patrick Dooley

Source: Global Trade Magazine

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Additional Information:

Global Cities: Two of Top Fifty in Tennessee