U.S. Port Activity Climbs 9 Percent
Ports across the country were busy as shipping activity and the economy pick up.
Import cargo volume at the nation’s major ports is expected to grow 9 percent in April compared with a year earlier after final cargo-container counts come in, according to the monthly Global Tracker report, published by the National Retail Federation and Hackett Associates.
“These numbers are an indication that the economy is recovering and retailers are expecting continued increases in sales through the summer and beyond,” said Jonathan Gold, NRF’s vice president for supply chain and customs policy. “There are challenges ahead from rising prices for gasoline and other essentials, but inventories are under control and retailers are optimistic.”
The April cargo figures mark 17 straight months of year-over-year improvements in container activity at the ports. That is in sharp contrast to the 28 straight months of year-over-year declines that plagued the nation’s ports during the recession, which officially began in December 2007 and ended in June 2009 and saw the world’s cargo-container shipping lines experience a $15 billion loss.
During the first half of 2011, cargo imports are expected to reach 7.4 million 20-foot containers, up 8 percent from the first half of 2010. For all of 2010, cargo imports totaled 14.7 million 20-foot containers, a 16 percent increase over 2009, which had 12.7 million 20-foot containers enter the nation’s major ports. 2009 was the worst year for cargo since 2003.
The country’s largest port complex—the Port of Los Angeles and the Port of Long Beach—experienced a healthy rise in cargo activity in April. The Port of Long Beach saw a 12 percent increase in inbound containers, totaling 270,107 20-foot containers and a 9.5 percent increase in total activity, which includes exports and empties.
At the Port of Los Angeles, inbound cargo-container traffic was up 3.4 percent with 312,360 20-foot containers crossing the docks. Total traffic in April was up 3.7 percent to 617,272 containers.—Deborah Belgum
