Cargo Business Newswire

Wednesday, June 18, 2014

Container volume at ports of LA, Long Beach up in May

Container volume at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach rose in May year-over-year, according to information posted by the ports. Port officials say the increase is due to a rebounding economy, as well as retailers who are importing holiday and back-to school goods early in case port labor negotiations fail on the West Coast.

A total of 689,141 containers traversed the Port of Los Angeles in May, up 8.2 percent from May of 2013, according to the port website. Imports climbed 7.5 percent year-over-year to 351,403 TEUs, and exports went up 2 percent.

The L.A. port reported that container volume at for the first five months of 2014 is up 8.2 percent (3,315,788 TEUs) from the same period last year.

Approximately 600,000 containers were handled at the Port of Long Beach in May, up 2.7 percent year-over-year, according to the port. Imports rose 2 percent year-to-year, while exports were static.

Long Beach said its container traffic for the first five months of the year was up only 1.3 percent.