Container throughput slows down at southern California ports

THE Port of Los Angeles, handled a total of 721,802 TEU in June, a fall of two per cent over the same month last year, with reports suggesting that more cargo is being steered away from southern California to alternative ports, mostly on the east coast.

Neighbouring Long Beach reported a year on year drop of four per cent in June with a throughput of 583,621 TEU.

Meanwhile, June shipments through Seattle and Tacoma, Washington, rose seven per cent to 344,000 TEU and 14 per cent at Charleston, south Carolina, to 169,000 TEU, according to mid-July statements from these ports.

The June shipment totals haven't yet been announced for New York-New Jersey, Savannah, Georgia, and Norfolk, Virginia-area ports, the Hellenic Shipping News reported.

Shipments rose 13 per cent or more during May at all three ports, totaling 1.1 million TEU and far outpacing southern California's growth pace in that month. Meanwhile, two indicators of activity at major US ports suggested an overall increase of five per cent last month.

Cass Information Systems and INTTRA, an ocean shipping consultant, last week said nationwide cargo rose 4.8 per cent. The Global Port Tracker report published by the National Retail Federation and consultant Hackett Associates projected 5.5 per cent growth.

Deutshe Bank analyst, Robert Salmon, stated in a July 21 report that the disparity could be potentially caused by "additional shipper supply chain adjustments to bring more product into the US east coast, Gulf coast, Canadian, and Mexican ports." He also said the June southern California totals may have been altered by the timing of large vessel arrivals.

International cargo flow has broad implications for trucking and the economy, Mr Salmon noted. "If imports fail to strengthen in the coming months or show stronger performance at other US ports in June, economic expectations will likely need to be tempered further for the second half of 2015,?he said.

"The June California import data is a negative data point for the truckers [and transportation demand more broadly]."