THE Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach posted their best and second best September container throughputs in history respectively, noted Logistics Management, of Framingham, Massachusetts.
Total LA volume increased 1.7 per cent year on year to 898,941 TEU while the Port of Long Beach volume decreased 5.9 per cent to 748,472 TEU.
"The cargo surge we have experienced for more than a year continues," said LA port executive director Gene Seroka. "The surge continues to be driven by the American consumer, which is good news for our economy. The duration of this cargo run is quite remarkable."
What's more, Mr Seroka said LA averaged 17 ships at berth daily in September, which is 70 per cent higher than in pre-Covid days. LA docked 83 container vessels, including 15 extra loaders, which shows the strength of the US import market, he said,
The Port of Long Beach reported imports fell 8.7 per cent to at 370,230 TEU while exports fell 1.6 per cent to 110,787 TEU. Empties were down 3.6 per cent to 267,456 TEU in September year on year.
On a year-to-date basis through September, Long Beach volume was up 24.3 per cent to 7,094,849 TEU, and LA said that it was on track to move more than nine million TEU, which would top the current record, of 8.1 million TEU set in 2020.
Said Long Beach port executive director Mario Cordero: "We are having capacity issues due to the unprecedented number of containers waiting to move off the terminals, while warehouses have little to no room to accommodate this ongoing spike in cargo."
"This is not just about a record number of ships waiting off the coast. We are working with state, federal, local and industry partners to address issues with the entire supply chain that have finally caught up with us," said Mr Cordero.