The disparity between cargo volumes trends at the two major Puget Sound domestic ports continued through the first half of the year, with Seattle reporting impressive box volume gains over the year-ago period and the nearby Tacoma port continuing to see declining box volume numbers.
For the first six months of the year, the Port of Seattle reported handling a total of 1,003,856 TEUs, a 45.2 percent increase over the first six months of 2009.
Port officials reported handling 421,829 loaded inbound TEUs for the January to June period, a 66.5 percent increase over the same period in 2009. Total loaded outbound box volume was up 40.1 percent to 260,382 TEUs compared to the first six months of last year.
Across the Sound, the Port of Tacoma continued more than two years of steady overall container volume declines, handling 703,711 TEUs in the January to June period, a 12.4 drop when compared to the same period last year. During the first six months of he year, Tacoma handled 226,651 loaded inbound TEUs and 162,777 loaded outbound TEUs, a 5.5 percent and 28.5 percent decline, respectively compared to the same period in 2009.
June Monthly Totals
In June, the Port of Seattle handled a total of 190,129 TEUs, a 49 percent increase over June 2009. It is the third month in a row the port has seen total box volume increase by roughly 50 percent or more over the year-ago period. The port has reported more than a 21 percent increase in total box volume, compared to the same periods last year, in every month of 2010.
Seattle officials reported handling 88,763 loaded inbound TEUs – a staggering 93.3 percent increase over June 2009 – and 38,781 loaded outbound TEUs in June, a 9.5 percent increase over the same period last year.
Port of Tacoma officials reported handling a total of 147,202 TEUs in June, a 3.4 percent decline over June last year. This is the first time this year the port has not seen a monthly double-digit decline in total container volumes. Port officials reported handling 52,240 loaded inbound TEUs in the month of June, a 5.5 percent decline over last June, and 29,487 loaded outbound TEUs, a 28.5 percent drop compared to June 2009.
