The Port of Long Beach is having a phenomenal year, and the winning streak is continuing. After a record-breaking month of May, the Port of Long Beach reported its second best June in history. Cargo volumes increased 9.2% year over year moving a total of o 658,727 TEUs. June also closed a strong quarter two with cargo volumes up 8% year over year.

“The economy continues to strengthen, and imports are on the rise with the increase in consumer confidence,” Lee Peterson of the Port of Long Beach, tells GlobeSt.com. “We're looking at increases this year, thanks to the improving outlook, as well as the shifts brought by the new shipping alliances, which are bringing additional cargo to our Port.”

This strong performance isn't a surprise, however, to the port, which expected a healthy year. Last year, the Hanjin Bankruptcy halted cargo volumes in the fourth quarter and affected the port's performance. This year, the port is on track and continues to expect a 5% total year-over-year increase. “Right now, we are running at about where we expected, with an increase of about 5% year to date over 2016. We may end up exceeding the expectations, but that remains to be seen,” explains Peterson. “Our outlook has been about 5% to 7% ahead of 2016. We still expect to see that. Of course, our final quarter of 2016 was affected by the Hanjin bankruptcy, and we seem to have bounced back from that.”

While the port anticipated a healthy performance, there have been wildcards this year, specifically the carrier mergers. Those have not had a negative impact on the port's performance. “We haven't seen that effect yet, however, there was the additional merger of the COSCO and OOCL companies, but we don't expect that to change the Port's overall totals, given the two lines both having big terminals in Long Beach,” says Peterson. “Volumes have been somewhat increased by the new alliances, with some services coming to Long Beach now, but we will have to see what happens in the long run.”