Archives



Feature, Freight News, Sea


No time to relax on Long Beach this summer

[ August 10, 2022   //   ]

The Port of Long Beach, the second busiest in the US, says it had its busiest July on record despite a cooling down in consumer spending when it published its latest figures in mid-August.
It moved 785,843TEU in July, a slim 0.13% increase from the previous record set in July 2021. Imports declined 1.8% to 376,175 TEUs, while exports were down 0.5% to 109,411 TEUs. However, empty containers moved through the port were up 2.8% to 300,257 TEUs. The port says that while the economy is not necessarily in a recession, weaker domestic demand confirms it is rapidly downshifting amid stubbornly high inflation and aggressive tightening by the Federal Reserve. Consumer spending rose a modest 1% nationally, attributed to an increase in spending on services that offset a decline in purchasing goods.
Meanwhile, executive director Mario Cordero declared: “We are continuing to seek solutions to improve efficiency as a record-breaking number of containers move through the Port. We hope to relieve some of the stress points by continuing to support a transition of the entire supply chain to 24/7 operations and ensuring our industry partners can track containers with our new Supply Chain Information Highway data solution.”
“Our waterfront workforce continues to ensure trade moves through the port at a record-setting pace,” added Long Beach Harbor Commission president Sharon Weissman. “We continue to strengthen our partnerships with labour and industry to ensure our spot as a leader in trans-Pacific trade.”
With the July result, the Port of Long Beach has broken monthly records in six out of the last seven months, moving 5,793,621TEU during the first seven months of 2022, up 4.6% from the same period last year.


Tags: