Both import and export container traffic at the Port of
Long Beach rose in June compared to the same period a year ago, with imports up
3.5 percent and exports up 5.6 percent, according to newly-released data.
June was the busiest month year to date for calendar year
2012 at the port. Terminals moved 280,526 20-foot equivalent units of loaded
inbound cargo last month, compared to 271,113 TEUs in June 2011. Export
containers accounted for 133,649 TEUs, compared to 126,588 TEUs the same month
last year. Overall, the port moved 555,359 TEUs, up 0.2 percent from last year.
The news wasn’t all good, however. Long Beach’s gain in
both imports and exports was offset by a decline in empty containers moved. The
port moved 141,184 empty TEUs last month, which is more than any other month
this year, but still a drop of 9.8 percent compared with June 2011.
Through first half of the calendar year, overall
container traffic at the port is down five percent. Long Beach attributes the
decrease in volumes in part to the elimination of several niche service strings
that had called at the port last year.
For the fiscal year, which began Oct. 1, the total number
of TEUs moved has dropped 8.2 percent compared with the same period the
previous fiscal year. The number of loaded inbound, loaded outbound and empty
containers moved were off 8.0 percent, 7.59 percent and 9.2 percent from the
same nine months during the 2011-2012 fiscal period.
