The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey said that 2007 represented a record year of growth at the Port of New York and New Jersey, which remains the third most active port in America after Los Angeles and Long Beach, Calif.

Statistics provided by the Port Authority yesterday show that the value of cargo handled through the port in 2007 exceeded $166 billion, representing an increase of 11% from the year before. There was, however, a slight decline in the amount of ship traffic in 2007. There were 5,445 ship calls in the port in 2007, compared to 5,577 in 2006.

The top five trading partners in general cargo tonnage were China, India, Italy, Germany, and Brazil, and the top five containerized import commodities by volume were furniture, womenswear and infantwear, beer and ale, plastic products, and apparel.

The port’s new Express Rail, which was designed to shift the transport of cargo from trucks to railcars, set a new record in 2007, handling 358,043 cargo containers, an increase of approximately 20,000 containers over the previous record of 338,884 in 2006.

“The Port Authority recognizes the critical role of the port in our regional economy, and that’s why over the next 10 years we’ve committed $2 billion in the port’s infrastructure — an investment that we believe will pay substantial dividends now and for years to come,” the Port Authority chairman, Anthony Coscia, said.