The Port of
Los Angeles has released its May 2013 cargo volumes, and for the fourth time in
five months, those volumes were down compared with the same month last year.
May 2013 overall volumes fell 12.9 percent compared to May 2012, according to
port data.
Imports
dropped 12 percent, from 370,721 TEUs in May 2012 to 326,114 TEUs last month,
while exports decreased 16.3 percent, from 185,107 TEUs in May 2012 to 154,004
TEUs in May 2013.
Combined,
total loaded imports and exports for May dropped 13.4 percent, from 555,829
TEUs last May to 481,019 TEUs in May 2013. Factoring in empties, which
decreased 11.2 percent year over year, overall May 2013 volumes (636,851 TEUs)
were down 12.9 percent compared to May 2012, 731,352 TEUs.
The port is
attributing the overall decline in part to a vessel service that shifted out of
the Port of Los Angeles. French shipping line CMA CGM Group moved a weekly ship
call from Los Angeles to the neighboring Port of Long Beach last year.
Mediterranean Shipping Co. also jumped from the Port of Los Angeles to the Port
of Long Beach late in 2012.
For the first
five months of this calendar year, LA moved 3.0 million TEUs, which is down
about 7.5 percent from the 3.31 million moved over the same time from last
year, but still far more than any other US port.
For the
current fiscal year, which began in July 2012, volumes are down 4.74 percent,
falling from 7.48 million TEUs to 7.13 million.
