Port Traffic Metrics: Long Beach, Seattle/Tacoma
Print this Article | Send to Colleague
Buoyed by hefty gains in January and February, first quarter container volumes at the Port of Long Beach rose 6.1 percent from a year ago, resulting in the port’s best quarter since 2007.
The March TEU count fell 23.2 percent compared to March 2015 when volumes soared 32 percent due to the exceptional recovery from cargo backlogs accumulated during the protracted labor dispute. Also contributing to this March’s smaller total was the Lunar New Year, when many factories in East Asia shut down for one to two weeks.
"Overall, we are pleased with these results," said Port CEO Jon Slangerup. "The uneven global economy, industry financial pressures, weak U.S. export demand and the introduction of mega sized container vessels to West Coast ports have created dynamic conditions for the maritime industry that will continue to play out over the coming year. Nevertheless, our value proposition, being the fastest and most cost-effective supply route from Asia to America’s consumer markets, continues to define Long Beach and Southern California as the multimodal gateway of choice for our shipping customers."
In detail, the March 2016 data show declines from a year ago of 34.6 percent for imports, 0.1 percent for exports, and 29.8 percent for empty containers, yielding an overall total of 464,855 TEUs compared to 630,084 TEUs in March 2015.
Seattle/Tacoma: Northwest Seaport Alliance Auto, Container Volumes Grew in First Quarter
Auto imports and container volumes posted gains through the first quarter of 2016 at the Northwest Seaport Alliance’s facilities in Seattle and Tacoma.
Building off last year’s record-volumes, March marked the highest volume of auto imports in more than a decade. The 21,085 units beat the previous record month, December 2002.
Meanwhile, international containers improved 4 percent through the first three months of the year, largely on the strength of January and February volumes. Full containerized exports were up 18 percent year to date, while imports were flat, and empty container volumes fell 4 percent.
The March data show international container movements down nearly 22 percent compared to March 2015, when volume surged following the resolution of the West Coast labor dispute. This March’s numbers were also adversely impacted by Lunar New Year factory closures in Asia.
For further detail click on Container volumes - March 2016 and Cargo statistics - March 2016.
The Northwest Seaport Alliance is a marine cargo operating partnership of the ports of Seattle and Tacoma.
Back to AAPA Seaports Advisory
