Americas News
Cargo Volumes Rebounding At U.S. West Coast Ports
Several U.S. West Coast ports have seen container volumes rebound quickly following the end of a lengthy labour dispute that caused slowdowns and work stoppages in ports along the coast, Joc reports.
Container volumes at the Seattle-Tacoma gateway reportedly spiked 21 percent to 361,951 TEUs in March 2015, with the Seattle-Tacoma port complex reporting that volumes rose 3 percent in the first quarter of the year compared with the first quarter of 2014.
The ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach also reported a volume surge of 24 percent at the port complex for the month of March, with Los Angeles reporting 791,864 TEUs and Long Beach reporting 630,084 TEUs.
However, overall container volumes year-to-date for both ports are still down 5 percent and 3.3 percent respectively.
Reports suggest that the Puget Sound ports have had an easier time of recovery given that both Seattle and Tacoma had been operating at under 50 percent utilisation prior to the start of the labour dispute.
By contrast, Los Angeles and Long Beach were contending with congestion for much of 2014 as the ports struggled to accommodate larger containerships with more cargo.
The dispute officially ended in late February after more than seven months of negotiations.
During the period, congestion at ports quickly rose as worker's unions allegedly encouraged members to undergo work slowdowns in a bid for leverage in contract negotiations.
At the time, some ports voiced fears that shippers who had rerouted cargo to other ports of call during the disruptions would not return.
