By Karen Robes Meeks
The Port of Los Angeles last month had its busiest August and second-busiest month in port history, according to its latest statistics.
The nation’s busiest seaport moved 847,857 TEUs, 6.1 percent more than in August 2016. This breaks the port’s previous record, which was established last year when it handled 798,932 TEUs.
August 2017 was close to breaking the port’s all-time high of 877,564 TEUs recorded in November 2016.
Los Angeles also handled 432,479 TEUs in imports last month, a 5.1 percent increase from the same period last year and moved 159,197 TEUs in exports, a four percent jump.
“We are grateful to our terminal operators, labor force, supply chain stakeholders and our cargo owners for the record-breaking container volume trend we have been experiencing over the past 20 months,” said Port of Los Angeles Executive Director Gene Seroka. “We plan to build on this momentum and confidence by focusing on innovative new ways to improve efficiencies, including a first-of-its kind information portal system with GE Transportation that will be introduced at all of our container terminals in the coming months.”
Los Angeles is nine percent ahead of 2016 within the first eight months of 2017, an indication that the port may likely surpass its record-breaking 8.8 million TEUs from last year.
