By Karen Robes Meeks
On Tuesday, the Port of Oakland announced it had handled 2.55 million TEUs in 2018, 5.2 percent higher than in 2017 and a record year for the Northern California port.
It’s the second consecutive year of record volume for Oakland, which also saw a 5 percent jump in imports and a 3.5 percent decline in exports. Port officials attributed those figures to several factors, including a strong US dollar, higher demand for empty containers and a push by shippers to hasten imports in the face of pending tariffs.
“Last year was the busiest one ever at the port for a variety of reasons,” said Port of Oakland Maritime Director John Driscoll. “Our objective now is to build on this performance to grow import and export volume.”
