Americas News
Drop in Container Volumes at Port of Long Beach
The Port of Long Beach (PoLB) has said year-on-year cargo container volumes for the month of September 2012 dropped 2.9 percent compared to a year ago.
Overall container volumes at the Port for the 12 month period October 1, 2011 to September 30, 2012 were down 7 percent to 5,857,218 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) compared to 6,298,840 TEUs in the preceding 12-month period.
"For the calendar year so far, overall container volumes at the Port are down 4.4 percent because of the continuing weakness in the economy, and the cutbacks in ship calls by several niche vessel operators at the end of 2011 and early 2012," it said.
in addition, imports were said to be down 4 percent and exports down 1.3 percent through September, compared to the same period a year ago.
The Port of Long Beach says it continues to invest long term and is two years into a decade-long, $4.5 billion program to upgrade its facilities.
Last month the port welcomed MSC Beatrice, the largest cargo ship ever to visit any port in North America, with PoLB saying it showed that the port was ready to receive the next generation of larger, fuel efficient vessels.
