The Port of Tacoma posted its fourth straight year of declining container cargo growth in 2010, reporting a 5.8 drop off in container volume compared to 2009 and a 30.7 percent drop off since the last reported year of annual growth in 2006.
Tacoma officials reported that the port handled a total of 1,455,467 TEUs in 2010, a decline of about 110,000 TEUs compared to 2009 and a drop of about 600,000 TEUs since 2006.
Port officials reported handling 476,746 loaded inbound TEUs in 2010, a 0.9 percent decline compared to 2009. The port also handled 337,538 loaded outbound TEUs in 2010, a 19.8 percent drop off from the previous calendar year.
Closing out the year, the port handled a monthly total of 130,332 TEUs in December 2010, an 11.8 percent gain for the month compared to the same period in 2009. It was the third straight monthly volume gain at the port and the first time the port has recorded three straight months of gain since the April to June period in 2008. The port posted declining monthly volumes from July 2008 to September 2010.
In December, 2010, the port handled 42,120 loaded inbound TEUs, a 14 percent decline over December 2009. The port also handled 37,089 loaded outbound containers in December, 2010, a 14.5 percent decline compared to the same month in 2009.
Containerized cargo tonnage also dropped 8.6 percent in 2010, compared to 2009 numbers.
Total cargo tonnage volume handled at the port, minus containerized cargo, fell to 16.5 million short tons in 2010, a 4.8 percent drop compared to the previous year.
