Wednesday, October 20, 2010

Seattle Port Volumes Continue to Climb, Tacoma Returns to Negative Growth

Cargo volumes at the two major domestic Puget Sound ports returned to moving in opposite directions in September, with Seattle up double digits and Tacoma moving into the negative once more.

The Port of Seattle moved a total of 177,870 TEUs in September, a 22.1 percent increase over September 2009. Port officials reported handling 78,564 loaded inbound TEUs, a 32.8 percent increase over the year-ago period. The port also handled 43,536 loaded outbound TEUs, a 2.0 percent increase over the same month last year.

The Port of Tacoma, after experiencing its first month of positive numbers in nearly two years during August, fell again into the negative for September. The port handled a total of 139,732 TEUs during September, a 4.6 percent drop compared to September 2009. The port handled 49,718 loaded inbound TEUs, a 6.6 percent decline over the year-ago period and 31,587 loaded outbound TEUs, an 18.1 percent drop compared to September 2009.