By Karen Robes Meeks
The health crisis’ effect on the economy continues to affect the Port of Long Beach, which saw 17.3 percent fewer containers last month than April 2019, the port’s busiest April ever, according to new numbers released this week.
Long Beach handled 519,730 TEUs in April, including 253,540 TEUs of imports and 102,502 TEUs of exports. These fell 20.2 percent and 17.2 percent, respectively, from a year ago.
Empty containers also dropped 12.2 percent to 163,688 TEUs year over year.
For the first four months of this year, the port handled 2,202,650 TEUs, down 9.5 percent from the same time last year.
“We look forward to a recovery stage and rebounding cargo shipments as the nation contemplates relaxing shelter-in-place orders, people return to work and consumer demand rises – however it will not be in the short term,” said Port Executive Director Mario Cordero. “In the meantime, we continue to collaborate with importers, exporters, terminal operators and labor to develop a recovery plan while ensuring the safe and reliable delivery of goods moving through the Port of Long Beach.”
