Port of Long Beach Executive Director Chris Lytle is
scheduled to deliver his 2013 “State of the Port” address Thurs. Jan. 31. The event
is scheduled for 11:30 am to 1:30 pm at the Long Beach Convention Center’s
Grand Ballroom.
This will be the second State of the Port address for Lytle,
who assumed the port’s top post from the retiring Dick Steinke in late 2011,
just as Long Beach embarked on a $4.5 billion capital improvement program, the
largest in the nation.
Lytle’s expected to give an update on the progress of
construction projects, including the redevelopment of Middle Harbor and the
construction of a new modern span to replace the aging Gerald Desmond Bridge.
The two projects alone are expected to generate about 4,000 construction jobs,
according to the port.
Despite the slow economic recovery, Long Beach saw
year-over-year increases in the number of loaded inbound and outbound
containers its terminals shipped in 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.
