Overall container volumes at the Port of Los Angeles decreased
16 percent in November 2012 compared to the same month last year, according to recently
released port data.
The decrease, the port says, was due in part to a vessel
service shift from Los Angeles to the Port of Long Beach and to cargo delays
related to the initial days of a labor dispute.
Port traffic was seriously curtailed in late November due to
an eight-day strike by International Longshore and Warehouse Union clerks that
began Nov. 27. During the strike, container movement came to a standstill at
nearly all POLA terminals.
Total container imports at LA terminals decreased 18.6
percent last month, falling from 354,313 TEUs in November 2011 to 288,273 TEUs
this November, according to the data.
Additionally, exports fell a whopping 25.8 percent, dropping
from 195,877 TEUs in November 2011 to 145,344 TEUs in November 2012.
Combined, total loaded imports and exports for November fell
21.1 percent, from 550,190 TEUs last November to 433,617 TEUs in November 2012.
Factoring in empties, which increased 3.78 percent year over year, overall the November
2012 total volume of 582,981 TEUs was a 16 percent drop compared to November
2011’s 694,108 TEUs.
For the first 11 months of the calendar year however,
overall container volumes have increased 2.7 percent to 7.48 million TEUs
compared with the 7.29 million TEUs that were shipped by port terminals during
the same period in 2011.
For the 2012-2013 fiscal year, which began July 1, traffic
volumes are down a combined 1.26 percent from the same five months during the
previous fiscal year, according to port data.
