Port of Long Beach container volumes down 8.9 percent to 641,029 TEU in August 2016

August exports surged 14.8 percent through the Port of Long Beach compared to the same month in 2015, but lower imports drove overall volumes down, the company said in its press release.
 
Harbor terminals moved 641,029 twenty-foot equivalent units in August, an 8.9 percent year-over-year decrease. Of those, 321,625 TEUs were import containers, which were down 10.2 percent. Exports numbered 159,247 TEUs. Empties accounted for 160,157 containers, 22.5 percent fewer than August 2015. That month set an all-time record for Port of Long Beach cargo.
 
Currently, shipping lines are continuing to consolidate service routes to optimize vessel utilization during the holiday peak season and in anticipation of the new, planned ocean carrier alliances. Other factors impacting Port container volumes are domestic retail inventories that remain high even as strong consumer spending continues to power the nation’s economy. The Port’s August throughput was not affected by Hanjin’s filing for court receivership on August 31.
 
For the calendar year, overall cargo volumes are down 2.9 percent at the Port of Long Beach, compared to the first eight months of 2015.
 
With an ongoing $4 billion program to modernize its facilities this decade, the Port of Long Beach is building the Port of the Future by investing in capital and service improvements that will bring long-term, environmentally sustainable growth.