RESOURCES

Resource-rich Louisiana is a principal source of U.S. petroleum and refined petroleum products, natural gas, petrochemicals, forest-products, agricultural crops, salt, sulphur and seafood.

PETROLEUM REFINING
AND PETROCHEMICALS

20 petroleum refineries produce lubricants and fuels, including 15 billion gallons of gasoline a year, making Louisiana the third largest refiner in the U.S. Louisiana's petrochemical industry manufactures one-quarter of America's petrochemicals, including basic chemicals, plastics and fertilizers. Annual production of the more than 250 petrochemical facilities operating in the state is valued at nearly $20 billion.

GENERAL
MANUFACTURING

Louisiana's general manufacturing sector includes shipbuilding, vehicle assembly, design and fabrication of offshore oil drilling platforms and equipment, food processing, apparel manufacturing, jewelry, automotive equipment, and aircraft and aerospace manufacturing and maintenance.

SHIPPING AND
INTERNATIONAL
COMMERCE

Louisiana's five world ports handle over 400 million short tons of all waterborne commerce annually, including fully 48 percent of all American grain exports. Some 100 steamship lines and barge companies serve the more than 6,000 seagoing vessels and 100,000 barges that traverse the state's waterways each year.

MINERAL RESOURCES

Louisiana's natural resources include 10 percent of U.S. petroleum reserves and 19 percent of the country's reserves of natural gas. In addition, Louisiana's two operating lignite mines have over 300 million tons of recoverable lignite. Other major mineral resources include salt (the state is the largest producer of salt in America), sulphur (the state ranks second in production), lime and silica sands. The total value of all mineral production in the state is the second highest in the U.S.

FOREST RESOURCES

The state's 13.8 million acres of hardwood and softwood forests support a vast forest products industry that includes pulp and paper, pine plywood, lumber for construction, linerboard, Kraft paper and fine papers. Louisiana's mild climate and abundant rainfall give it one of the fastest tree-growing cycles in North America.

AGRICULTURE AND
SEAFOOD

Louisiana has America's second largest seafood industry, accounting for 25 percent of all seafood landed in the U.S. Only Alaska's fishery is larger. Agriculturally, Louisiana is among the largest producers in the U.S. of cotton, sugar cane, soybeans, yams, rice and pecan nuts.

TOURISM

A major non-industrial industry is tourism. The state's largest city, New Orleans, is considered one of the most interesting in America and annually hosts more than six million visitors. Among Louisiana's best known attractions are its Jazz music - conceived and first played in New Orleans - its several unique cuisines, antebellum plantation homes, and excellent fishing, hunting and watersports.