The Port of Long Beach managed to put the brakes on continuing
declines in container volumes last month by recording gains in the number of loaded
inbound and outbound containers it moved.
Cargo container volumes at port terminals climbed in August,
coinciding with the start of the peak season, when shipments begin arriving for
end-of-the-year holiday shopping. Imports were up 2.9 percent last month compared
to August 2011.
According to port data, terminals handled 274,977 20-foot equivalent
container units of loaded inbound cargo last month, compared to 267,198 TEUs in
August 2011. The port says the rise in August points to a slight recovery during
peak season and the second half of the year.
Exports were also up in August, increasing 5.7 percent to 128,225
TEUs compared to 121,277 TEUs a year ago.
Overall, container volume through the port was up 1.4 percent
in August. The total includes imports, exports and empty containers, which declined
4.9 percent. With imports exceeding exports, empty containers are sent overseas
to be refilled with goods. With exports up, fewer empty containers moved back to
Asia in August.
For the calendar year, overall container volumes at the port
are down 4.6 percent, something that Long Beach blames on continuing weakness in
the global economy as well as cutbacks in ship calls at the port by several niche
vessel operators in late 2011 and early 2012.
Imports are down 4.6 percent and exports down 1.2 percent through
August compared to the same period a year ago.
For the fiscal year, which began last October for the port and
ends Sept. 30, container traffic is down almost 7.4 percent so far. During the
11-month period, Long Beach moved 5.34 million TEUs, compared to 5.77 million in
the same time period during its previous fiscal year.
The volumes of loaded inbound, loaded outbound and empty containers
are down 7.2 percent, about six percent and nine percent, respectively, compared
with the first 11 months of the last fiscal year, according to port data.
