A total of
583,588 TEUs were moved by the port’s container terminals in May, up 17.2
percent from the same month in 2012. Additionally, imports increased a whopping
22.2 percent to 305,498 TEUs. Exports were up 13.9 percent to 147,073 TEUs.
The number of
empty containers that moved through the port was up 10.2 percent to 131,017
TEUs.
Import
volumes are the highest since August 2010 overall and export volumes are the
highest since October 2010, according to the port’s data.
For the first
five months of 2013, Long Beach’s total cargo container volume is up 17.2
percent – including 19.3 percent more imports, 12.2 percent more exports and
18.9 percent more empties. The port attributes the increases in part to larger
ships calling at the port more frequently, as well as the addition of service
lines beginning in the final quarter of 2012.
For the
fiscal year to date, which began in October 2012, Long Beach has seen 4.3
million TEUs, a 15.5 percent increase from the 3.7 million units it saw during
the same eight month period during FY 2012. The overall increase includes an
18.8 percent rise in loaded inbound TEUs, a 12.7 percent increase in loaded
outbound containers and a nearly 12 percent upswing in empties.