The Port of Oakland’s October 2015 container volume of 192,284 TEUs – including imports, exports and empty containers – was a drop of 6.9 percent compared to the same month last year, according to newly released data.
Containerized import volume at the Port of Oakland declined last month for the first time since February. October’s full container import total – 70,697 TEUs – was a decrease of 3.3 percent compared to the same month in 2014, the port said Nov. 10.
Before last month, Oakland had reported seven consecutive months of import gains.
October’s full container export volume fell to 74,293 TEUs, a decrease of 13.7 percent compared to the same month last year.
The only area in which Oakland saw an increase was the volume of empty containers exported: the 30,975 TEUs sent out last month was an increase of 16.5 percent over the same month last year.
The port is attributing last month’s volume decrease to lighter-than-usual peak-season activity. Autumn is usually the busy time in container shipping when retailers import goods for holiday store shelves, but some ocean carriers are reporting lower demand for space on their ships.
For the calendar year to date, Oakland moved 1.89 million units during the first 10 months of 2015, a five percent drop from the corresponding period in 2014.
The latest and historical monthly cargo numbers for the Port of Oakland are available at http://portofoakland.com/maritime/containerstats.aspx.
