Port Traffic Metrics: Great Lakes/St. Lawrence, Long Beach, Los Angeles, Virginia

Grain and Project Cargo Dominate St. Lawrence Seaway Traffic in October

The Great Lakes St. Lawrence Seaway System accommodated a steady flow of traditional cargoes during the month of October, reports the U.S. Saint Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation. Traffic consisted of aluminum, steel, generators, crane components, iron ore, containerized goods, and agricultural products such as corn, soybeans, wheat and sugar beets.

An October highlight for the Port of Duluth-Superior was the completion of the port authority’s $18 million dock redevelopment. The project nearly triples the outdoor storage area and doubles the heavy-lift cargo handling capabilities of Clure Public Marine Terminal.

Grain shipments through the twin-city port are on track to outpace 2016 and the port’s five-year average. "The upward trend in grain is great news for this port, the regional economy and for the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Seaway System as a whole," said Duluth Seaway Port Authority Executive Director Vanta Coda. "Moving grain overseas from the heartland of North America remains one of the most tangible components of our region’s international trade pattern. Project cargo makes its way in through this bi-national waterway, and back hauls of grain along those same trade lanes make freight rates even more competitive."

"Despite the challenges in our traditional non-containerized steel segment, the Port of Cleveland continues to make positive gains in the project cargo market, thanks to the efforts of our two terminal operators, Federal Marine Terminals and C-Port Maritime Services," said David Gutheil, the port authority’s vice president, maritime and logistics.

"In October," he notes, "we handled multiple large project cargo moves from Europe, one of which consisted of multiple presses from Germany for the automotive industry." The other consisted of components for a natural gas-fired combined cycle power plant in northeast Ohio. The largest weighed more than 300 metric tons, making it the heaviest piece of project cargo to move through the Port of Cleveland in more than a decade.

Grain exports from the Port of Indiana-Burns Harbor are more than double the 2015 year-to-date total and include two recent shipments to Québec. "Ag and steel-related cargoes are primary drivers for our 2016 shipments and Québec continues to be a key trading partner for exchanging Indiana commodities with world markets," said Port Director Rick Heimann. "Looking ahead, we are expecting a surge in end-of-year shipments of steel products and bulk commodities for the steel industry in Northwest Indiana." Current projections indicated November could be a near record month for Seaway cargos at Indiana’s Lake Michigan port.

"With arrivals at the Port of Milwaukee scheduled well into December, we are likely to see both steel and agricultural products well ahead of last year’s volumes," said Port Director Paul Vornholt. "Additionally, the port took delivery of a new crane this month, a 300-ton capacity crawler, adding to its efficiency in handling project cargo."

The Seaway Corporation reports that cargo shipments for the year through October 31 totaled 25.8 million metric tons, down 5.2 percent from the comparable 2015 period. Gainers included liquid bulk (+22.6 percent) and domestic general cargo (+9.5 percent). On the down side were dry bulk (-11 percent), iron ore (-10 percent), coal (-18 percent) and total general cargo (-9 percent).

Long Beach Port Container Trade Dips in October

The Port of Long Beach reports October container volumes totaled 581,808 TEUs, a 6.2 percent drop from last year, which the port says was largely due to the Hanjin bankruptcy.

In detail, last month’s data show declines from October 2015 of 3.7 percent for inbound loads, 1.2 percent for outbound loads, and 13.8 percent for empty containers.

In 2015, Hanjin Shipping containers accounted for approximately 12.3 percent of the port’s total containerized volume. Port leaders recently acted to clear a backlog of empty containers related to the Hanjin bankruptcy, freeing a significant number of chassis to speed the flow of cargo through the Southern California supply chain.

For the calendar year through October, the port total stood at 5,691,934 TEUs, a 4.8 percent drop from January-October 2015. View the port’s latest container traffic numbers.

Los Angeles Records Best Month Ever for a Western Hemisphere Container Port

Container volumes at the Port of Los Angeles increased nearly 16 percent in October compared to the same period last year. Total volumes registered at 814,574 TEUs, eclipsing the ports previous record, 800,063 TEUs in October 2006. It was also the highest monthly total for a Western Hemisphere container port.

"We applaud our container terminals, labor and all of the stakeholders in our supply chain that drove this record-breaking volume with speed, efficiency and reliability," said Port Executive Director Gene Seroka. "It's encouraging to see that when cargo surges, we have the infrastructure, equipment and human capital to keep the boxes moving."

The October data show increases from a year ago of 16.4 percent for inbound loads, 23.3 percent for outbound loads, and 18.5 percent for empty containers. The year-to-date total, 7,182,682 TEUs, was up 5.25 percent compared to January-October 2015. View detailed Port of Los Angeles container traffic data.

Virginia Port Sets Single-Month Mark for TEU Volume; Rail and RMT Use Continues to Grow

The Port of Virginia® set yet another record in October, with container throughput at its Hampton Roads terminals totaling 238,567 TEUs, the most of any month in in the port’s history. It was also the port’s eighth consecutive month with container volume in excess of 210,000 TEUs.

In comparison with October 2015, TEU volumes were up 2.2 percent, truck volume down 2.5 percent, rail transported containers up 13 percent, and box movements via Richmond Marine Terminal (RMT) up 52 percent. October was the port’s second busiest month ever for container rail. It was also the best October for James River container barge traffic since the service began in 2008.

Year-to-date, the port’s TEU volume is up 2 percent; rail units up 12 percent; Virginia Inland Port volume up 3 percent; and Richmond Marine Terminal volume, up 32 percent. Full details are available here.

"The peak-season cargo is continuing and the volumes are being carried on bigger vessels that are rotating into the Atlantic trade," said John F. Reinhart, CEO and executive director of the Virginia Port Authority. "We are seeing ships in the 10,000-plus TEU range with regularity and larger vessels are on the horizon."

The upward trend received a boost with the recent announcement that the Virginia port figures prominently in the schedule of the ocean carrier partnerships Ocean Alliance and The Alliance. Both alliances will begin operation in April 2017 and each will bring several new Asia and trans-Atlantic services to Virginia, including multiple first-in and last-out vessel calls.

"The progress we are making here is resonating within the trade and industry," Mr. Reinhart said. "Our deep water and rail service allows these alliances to take advantage of our deep water and load heavy on these first-in and last-out calls. Users of the port will benefit from these first-and-last calls because their imports and exports will reach their destinations faster."