By Mark Edward Nero
Cargo terminals at the Port of Long Beach moved about 20 percent fewer containers in February 2015 than the same month last year, according to newly-released data. The port has blamed the significant slide on congestion issues faced for months by most West Coast seaports.
Port of Long Beach data show a total of 413,114 TEUs of containerized cargo were moved through the port in February. Imports were recorded at 204,462 TEUs, a 24.7 percent decrease from the same month last year, while exports fell 22.9 percent to 110,711 TEUs.
Additionally, empty containers saw a decline of 3.9 percent to 97,941 TEUs.
The congestion issues that worsened in February played the biggest role in Long Beach’s cargo declines, just as they did in January, which saw a 18.8 percent drop from January 2014.
However, according to the port, the outlook for the future is more promising because on Feb. 20, the Pacific Maritime Association and International Longshore & Warehouse Union reached a tentative agreement on a new five-year labor contract, which has helped improve cargo flow.
Also, in late February, the Federal Maritime Commission gave Long Beach and the neighboring Port of Los Angeles permission to collaborate on congestion relief.
For the calendar year-to-date, Long Beach terminals moved a total of 413,114 TEUs during the first two months of 2015, a 20.1 percent drop from the same period in 2014. For the fiscal year, Long Beach has so far seen a 7.2 percent drop in cargo traffic compared to FY 2014.
Long Beach’s latest monthly cargo numbers are available at http://www.polb.com/economics/stats/latest_teus.asp. More details on the cargo numbers can be found at www.polb.com/stats.
