Friday, April 14, 2017

POLA Monthly Volumes Up 29 Percent, Quarterly Up 10 Percent

By Mark Edward Nero

March cargo volumes jumped nearly 30 percent at the Port of Los Angeles compared to the previous year, the POLA said on April 13.

The robust numbers came, according to the port, through a combination of strong export volumes, which were up 20 percent, a post Lunar New Year surge of cargo from Asia, and US retailers shipping merchandise ahead of the new vessel alliance deployments that began this month.

For the first quarter of 2017, cargo increased 10 percent compared to 2016, according to POLA data. “We are pleased to end the first quarter of 2017 with strong volumes and continually efficient cargo handling operations,” Port of LA Executive Director Gene Seroka said in a statement. “We continue to earn the confidence of shippers and are encouraged by the strength of our supply chain partners.”

March 2017’s container volumes of 788,524 TEUs increased 29 percent compared to the March 2016 volumes of 612,863 TEUs, according to port data. The port’s most recent five-year average of March container volumes is 646,724; this year’s volumes represent a 22 percent increase over the five-year average.

March 2017 imports jumped 30 percent to 373,549 TEUs compared to the previous year, while exports increased 20 percent to 191,772 TEUs. Total loaded volumes of 565,321 TEUs increased 27 percent compared to the previous year. Empty containers grew 34 percent to 223,203 TEUs.

Current and historical data from the port is available at https://www.portoflosangeles.org/maritime/stats.asp