Despite increases in both the number of loaded inbound and
outbound containers shipped, the Port of Long Beach recorded a drop of roughly
0.3 percent in container volumes from the year before, moving about 6.04 million
TEUs during calendar year 2012.
The 3.06 million loaded inbound containers the port saw
represented a 1.2 percent increase from calendar year 2011, and the 1.54 million
loaded outbound containers sent overseas was a 2.2 percent increase from the
previous year.
The overall volume was dragged down, however, by a decline
in the number of empty TEUs imported and exported. POLB terminals shipped 1.44
million such containers between last January and December, a 5.6 percent drop
from calendar year 2011.
The yearly numbers made 2012 the second straight year where
volumes fell compared with the previous 12-month period. In 2011, the port saw
6.06 million TEUs; the number was 6.26 million in 2010.
In comparison, the adjoining Port of Los Angeles last week reported
a 1.7 percent increase in
overall cargo volumes compared to 2011. The total number of TEUs LA saw in 2012
was 8.07 million, compared to 7.94 million in 2011. It marked the third time in
the port’s history that it was able to eclipse eight million TEUs in a single
calendar year, with the most recent occasion being in 2007.
Port Metro Vancouver, BC, the third busiest seaport on the North
American West Coast, moved a total of 2.71 million TEUs in calendar year 2012, an 8.2 percent increase
from 2011’s 2.5 million TEUs.
The Port of Oakland, California’s third-busiest seaport and
fourth-busiest on the West Coast, saw a grand total of 2.34 million TEUS during
the calendar year, a net increase of just 0.1 percent
over 2011.
