For the fourth month in a row, the Port of Long Beach has posted a record-breaking month. In October, the port had a 15% increase year-over-year in cargo volume, making it the busiest month in port history. July, August and September were also record-setting months at the port, and it is on track for 2017 to be the busiest year in the history of the port, surpassing 2015, a previously record-breaking year.
“Driving the increase in the cargo is a nationwide increase in retail and e-tail buying and marketing,” Lee Peterson of the Port of Long Beach tells GlobeSt.com. “We're seeing the results of being able to service the overall trend. We're really able to capture a big part of that increase in imports and that's been very fortunate for us this year.”
October marks the end of the port's peak season, when retailers are stocking for the holiday season. However, this year, the port has seen steady growth throughout the year. “We're seeing a fairly steady rate of growth, given that it has been part of the very busy “peak season.” So that bump will reduce, but we still expect to see busy months ahead,” explains Peterson.
Import containers continued to dominate, increasing 14.3% to 339,013 TEUs for the month of October. Exports activity continued to be weak, decreasing .5% to 126,150 containers. “Our exports have been soft, largely due to the service rotations coming through our port that are less focused on loaded exports at this time,” says Peterson. “That could shift and it does shift from time to time. We're always looking to build the exports long-term, working to get the agricultural exporters and manufacturers all the information they need to utilize our port for their products.”
So far this year, the port has moved 6.3 million TEUs, a 9.5 percent increase over the same period in 2016. The success of the year highlights the Hanjin bankruptcy's tremendous negative impact last year, when the port had many negative cargo months. “Last year at this time, we were not as fortunate, given that Hanjin had just declared bankruptcy,” says Peterson. This year, the port expects to hit record-breaking cargo volumes, but admits the final two months are typically slow. “November and December tend to be quieter times of year on the docks, but we could see some Long Beach records for those months challenged as well,” adds Peterson.
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Kelsi Maree Borland
