Port of Long Beach November container volumes lag behind brisk 2015 figures
<p style="text-align: justify;">Dec 20, 2016: Port of Long Beach has witnessed 13.8 percent decrease in container traffic in November compared to the same month last year. Shifting alliance routes and the Hanjin bankruptcy continued to affect <a title="Port of Long Beach" href="http://polb.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Port of Long Beach</a> volumes in November.</p> <p style="text-align: justify;">A total […]
Dec 20, 2016: Port of Long Beach has witnessed 13.8 percent decrease in container traffic in November compared to the same month last year. Shifting alliance routes and the Hanjin bankruptcy continued to affect Port of Long Beach volumes in November.
A total of 534,308 TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units) were moved through the harbor last month. Imports fell 11.8 percent to 270,610 TEUs. Exports declined 3.1 percent to 120,897 TEUs, while empty TEUs numbered 142,801, 24.2 percent off.
The Port experienced its second-best November ever in 2015, part of a six-month run of gains to end the year above 7 million TEUs for only the third time in its history. This year the Port has faced challenges as ocean carriers have merged, reorganised into new alliances and realigned routes.
Additionally, a major customer, Hanjin Shipping, declared bankruptcy in August. Hanjin Shipping represented 12.3 percent of Long Beach’s containerised volume and held a 54 percent stake in Total Terminals International, the operator of Pier T, one of the Port’s largest and most modern terminals. Through the first 11 months of 2016, Port container traffic is 5.6 percent behind the same point last year.
