Four months into 2018, the Port of Long Beach has moved 2.5 million twenty-foot equivalent units, an amount more than 17 percent above last year’s record pace, the company said in its press release.
In April, dockworkers handled 618,438 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs), a 10.8 percent increase above the same month last year.
Import containers grew 8.4 percent to 312,376 TEUs compared to last April. The number of exports moved through Long Beach jumped 22 percent to 141,799 TEUs, and empty containers sent overseas to be filled with goods totaled 164,264 TEUs, up 7 percent.
“Both imports and exports are beating expectations so far this year,” said Port of Long Beach Executive Director Mario Cordero. “For us, part of that is the shift of services we saw a year ago, but at least some of our strong growth appears to be a result of trade tensions as anxious shippers rush to get their cargo to overseas markets.”
“The global economy has benefited from a slow yet robust economic expansion,” Harbor Commission President Lou Anne Bynum added. “As long as it continues we expect to play a big role since we’re a natural trade conduit between China and the United States, the world’s two largest economies.”
The Port of Long Beach is one of the world’s premier seaports, a gateway for trans-Pacific trade and a trailblazer in goods movement and environmental stewardship. With 175 shipping lines connecting Long Beach to 217 seaports, the Port handles $180 billion in trade annually, supporting hundreds of thousands of Southern California jobs.