For the second straight month, the Port of Long Beach has broken
its own record for monthly cargo volume. In what the port says is a clear sign of
customer confidence, overall cargo volume grew by 22.8 percent in August compared
to the same month last year, according to newly released data.
Cargo volume reached 703,652 TEUs last month, an amount that
beats July’s cargo volume and marks two consecutive months of record-breaking volumes.
A total of 690,244 TEUs moved through the port in July, which was an 18.4-percent
increase compared to July 2014.
A total of 1,393,896 TEUs moved through the Port of Long Beach
in July and August combined.
“Our partners once again have expressed their confidence in the
Port of Long Beach and we thank them for their business,” Port of Long Beach CEO
Jon Slangerup said in a statement. “We have not seen volume like this in our entire
104-year history, and that is the clearest sign that consumers are buying.”
Not only did imports climb to 358,262 TEUs, or a 19.1 percent
increase over last year, but exports grew 9.4 percent to 138,765 TEUs. Empty containers,
meanwhile, rose 42.1 percent to 206,625 TEUs.
Through the first eight months of 2015, Long Beach cargo numbers
are growing faster than the overall economy and are up 5.4 percent compared to the
first eight months of 2014.
For the fiscal year, which began in October 2014, the port has
so far moved 6.4 million TEUs, a 3.9 percent increase over the 6.1 million units
moved during the same 11 months during FY 2014.
More details on the cargo numbers are available at www.polb.com/stats
