Combined imports and exports at Los Angeles and Long Beach, the busiest U.S. container ports, rose 7.2 percent in April from a year earlier, led by a 7.8 percent gain in exports, the Journal of Commerce reported.
Loaded import containers through Los Angeles rose 3.4 percent to 312,360 20-foot-equivalent units. Imports through Long Beach jumped 12 percent to 270,107 TEUs.
Exports increased 5.8 percent to 167,448 TEUs at Los Angeles and 10.4 percent to 143,683 TEUs at Long Beach. The totals continued a trend of faster growth in exports, which have been aided by a weaker dollar that has fueled overseas demand.
Overall container volume, including empty boxes, increased 3.7 percent at Los Angeles and 14.6 percent at Long Beach. Shipments of empty containers, mostly to Asia for reloading with import cargo, rose 2 percent to 137,464 TEUs at Los Angeles and 3.2 percent to 117,300 TEUs at Long Beach.