Total monthly container volumes did an about-face in July at the Port of Tacoma, swinging back into positive territory after two months of declines.
The port handled a total of 122,322 TEUs in July, a 3.9 percent increase over July 2010.
On the import side, port officials reported moving a total of 41,380 loaded inbound TEUs in July, a 3 percent increase over the same period last year.
On the export side of the ledger, the port handled a total of 26,897 loaded outbound TEUs in July, a 23.5 percent jump over the year-ago period.
The port remains in positive territory for the year-to-date, reporting a total of 842,500 TEUs handled since the start of the year, a 2.6 percent increase over the January-to-July period in 2010.
On the non-containerized side, the port in July boasted monthly growth in four of five non-containerized cargo categories compared to last July.
The largest increases for July were: total log tonnage handled was up 107 percent, breakbulk cargo was up 74.2 percent, and autos were up 51.2 percent. Grain handling also increased 1.5 percent compared to the year-ago period. The one decrease was in gypsum tonnage, which was down 16.7 percent for the month over July 2010.