By Mark Edward Nero
Strong cargo volume continued at the Port of Long Beach in November with 6.6 percent growth in container trade over the same month last year, according to newly released data.
It was the fifth straight month of increases and enough cargo to rack up the second-busiest November in its 104-year history, the port said.
A total of 619,699 TEUs moved through port terminals last month. Imports were up 4.3 percent to 306,654 containers, while exports fell four percent to 124,717 containers. The number of empty TEUs shipped was 188,328, a 19.5 percent increase over November 2015.
“Thanks to our industry partners, we have had consistent gains throughout 2015 and are on track to move more than seven million TEUs this year,” Port of Long Beach CEO Jon Slangerup said. “Retailers have reported a modest but healthy holiday season, which keeps us busy and the economy growing.”
The port said it believes that upcoming post-holiday sales planned by retailers across the country drove the port’s strong cargo numbers, as retailers heavily stocked their shelves a few months ago and are now shipping the empty containers back overseas to manufacturers to be refilled.
The National Retail Federation reported October sales were the highest in three months. The Toy Industry Association reported healthy sales figures up by 6.2 percent, an increase of $1 billion. Toy sales were driven by the “Star Wars” and “Minions” movies, whose toys came through the POLB.
Based on current projections for December, Long Beach expects to surpass seven million TEUs in 2015, which would be only the third time in its 104-year history. The other two times were in 2006 and 2007, when the Port of Long Beach reached 7.29 million and 7.31 million containers, respectively. Through 11 months of 2015, the Port was 5.5 percent ahead of the same period last year, and that’s despite the first quarter of the calendar year being negatively affected by congestion that hindered container movement on the docks.
More details on the cargo numbers are available at www.polb.com/stats.
Showing posts with label container cargo volumes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label container cargo volumes. Show all posts
Friday, December 11, 2015
Monday, September 21, 2015
Puget Sound Ports Up Again
By Mark Edward Nero
The Northwest Seaport Alliance, which is a marine cargo operating partnership between the ports of Seattle and Tacoma, said Sept. 17 that its container volumes grew for the sixth straight month in August, improving nearly 15 percent compared to August 2014.
The increase is significant, the ports say, because shipping season hit early last year as shippers sought to avoid possible West Coast labor disruptions during contract negotiations. Last month’s volumes hint at the beginning of 2015’s peak season.
Full containerized imports and empty containerized exports continued to fuel the growth, according to data. Imports improved five percent year to date to 946,390 TEUs, while exports increased eight percent to 849,597 TEUs.
Domestic volumes remained stable last month and were up two percent year to date to 607,780 TEUs. More than 2.4 million TEUs have crossed Port of Seattle and Port of Tacoma docks year to date, a five percent increase, according to data.
In other year-to-date cargo news: breakbulk volumes continued to stabilize at the ports and were up less than one percent to 180,616 metric tons; nearly 130,000 auto imports have arrived through August, a seven percent increase; and grain volumes have continued to decline, and are down 18 percent to 3.7 million metric tons through the first eight months of the year.
Additional information about the ports’ year-to-date volumes can be seen at https://www.nwseaportalliance.com/sites/default/files/August2015_CargoVolumes.pdf.
The Northwest Seaport Alliance, which is a marine cargo operating partnership between the ports of Seattle and Tacoma, said Sept. 17 that its container volumes grew for the sixth straight month in August, improving nearly 15 percent compared to August 2014.
The increase is significant, the ports say, because shipping season hit early last year as shippers sought to avoid possible West Coast labor disruptions during contract negotiations. Last month’s volumes hint at the beginning of 2015’s peak season.
Full containerized imports and empty containerized exports continued to fuel the growth, according to data. Imports improved five percent year to date to 946,390 TEUs, while exports increased eight percent to 849,597 TEUs.
Domestic volumes remained stable last month and were up two percent year to date to 607,780 TEUs. More than 2.4 million TEUs have crossed Port of Seattle and Port of Tacoma docks year to date, a five percent increase, according to data.
In other year-to-date cargo news: breakbulk volumes continued to stabilize at the ports and were up less than one percent to 180,616 metric tons; nearly 130,000 auto imports have arrived through August, a seven percent increase; and grain volumes have continued to decline, and are down 18 percent to 3.7 million metric tons through the first eight months of the year.
Additional information about the ports’ year-to-date volumes can be seen at https://www.nwseaportalliance.com/sites/default/files/August2015_CargoVolumes.pdf.
