Cargo Statistics: Indiana, Los Angeles, Oakland

 

The Ports of Indiana handled 11.8 million tons in 2017, resulting in a 5 percent increase from 2016 and the second-highest annual shipment total in the organization's 57-year history. This was the fourth-consecutive year that the Ports of Indiana handled over 10 million tons of cargo, the only four years this has been accomplished. The ports' average annual shipments in 2014-2017 totaled over 45 million tons, exceeding the previous four-year average by nearly 50 percent.  

 

Major cargo increases for the Ports of Indiana in 2017 included coal (+9%), steel (+14%), fertilizer (+14%), ethanol (+14%), limestone (+26%), and minerals (+28%). Shipments of heavy lift and project cargoes, such as wind turbines, laboratory equipment and mega storage tanks, had a 27 percent increase.

 

Major port expansions are also being planned at the Jeffersonville and Burns Harbor facilities, supported by the U.S. Department of Transportation's TIGER and FASTLANE grant programs. In 2017, Burns Harbor earned one of only 10 small project grants in the country awarded through the FASTLANE program. The approximately $20 million expansion will be developed over the next few years and include the construction of two rail yards, a new shipping berth, a truck marshalling yard, 1,200 foot expansion of a cargo dock and a new cargo terminal with multimodal connections for handling cargo transfers between ships, barges, rail cars, and trucks. Planning for a $17 million expansion at Jeffersonville was conducted in 2017 and construction will start in 2018 on the first phases of the project which will eventually include major rail extensions, a unit train rail siding, a bulk terminal and a new transmodal facility.  

 

 

 

The Port of Los Angeles handled 808,728 Twenty-Foot Equivalent Units (TEUs) in January 2018, the second-busiest January in the port’s history behind last January’s record of 826,640 TEUs. While a slight decrease compared to last January’s record, it’s significantly higher than the port’s most recent 5-year January average of 683,003 TEUs. 

 

Strong January volumes are due in part to retail stores replenishing inventories after the holidays, and cargo ships calling ahead of the Lunar New Year, when goods from Asia slow down considerably.

 

January 2018 imports increased 1.8 percent to 422,831 TEUs compared to the previous year. Exports decreased  7.6 percent to 150,035 TEUs while empty containers decreased 5.2 percent to 235,861 TEUs. Combined, January overall volumes were 808,728 TEUs, a 2.2 percent decrease compared to last year. 

 

Current and historical data is available here.

 

 

The Port of Oakland reported that containerized export volume in January increased 2.1 percent from the same month a year ago. It was the second consecutive month of export growth at the port.

 

The increase follows a 1.8 percent decline in Oakland exports during 2017. The port said a weakening dollar contributed to the January increase. American products are more affordable overseas when the dollar’s value declines.

 

The port said exports of refrigerated commodities climbed in January. Pork exports jumped 20 percent last month when compared to January 2017. Beef shipments were up 18 percent.

 

The port is currently constructing Cool Port, a 283,000-square-foot refrigerated distribution center to bring more U.S. meat products to Asia. The facility is scheduled to open in August.

 

The Port of Oakland reported a 4.3 percent increase in overall container volumes last month compared to January 2017. That was due largely to the increase in empty containers. For more details about the Port of Oakland’s monthly container statistics, please click here.