Container Volumes Fluctuate at Los Angeles Ports
It sounded like a tale of two ports.
Cargo-container volumes at the Port of Los Angeles were up 8.75 percent in June, to 696,847 20-foot containers, compared with the same month last year, while cargo-container volumes at the nearby Port of Long Beach were almost flat, up a mere 0.20 percent to 555,359.
The Port of Long Beach has been reporting reduced volumes since late 2010, when it lost a major shipper, California United Terminals, a subsidiary of Hyundai, to the Port of Los Angeles. The shipper accounted for about 10 percent of Long Beach’s cargo volume.
Exports at both ports were up in June. The Port of Los Angeles saw loaded outbound containers increase 6.9 percent to 174,418 containers.
At the Port of Long Beach, exports climbed 5.58 percent to 133,649 containers.
Earlier this month, the National Retail Federation, which tracks cargo-container traffic at the nation’s major ports, was predicting that cargo volumes in July would inch up only 1.6 percent compared with last year. The retail organization believes ports will see a modest year-over-year increase through the holiday shipping cycle.
“Whether consumers are going to have the confidence to spend during the next few months depends on what happens to employment,” said Jonathan Gold, the NRF’s vice president for supply chain and customs policy. —Deborah Belgum
