July Surge Leads Long Beach to Record Volumes
Cargo container volumes surged through the Port of Long Beach in July, with an 18.4 percent increase over the same month in 2014, making July a record month in the port’s 104-year history.
Previously, the port’s best year was 2007, just before 2008’s recession. Now, after a slow start at the beginning of 2015, the gains in July mark the fourth time in the last five months that cargo totals have climbed significantly higher, the port said.
The port’s terminals moved 690,244 twenty-foot equivalent container units (TEUs) in July, an increase of 18.4 percent compared to July 2014. Imports jumped to 345,912 TEUs, a 16.2 percent increase from last July. Exports increased an impressive 15.9 percent to 143,875 TEUs despite the stronger U.S. dollar, which has made U.S. exports relatively expensive overseas.
“These exceptional results are great news for Long Beach and the nation’s economy,” said the port’s CEO, Jon Slangerup. “We’ve worked closely with all of our stakeholders to prepare for our peak season, which is off to a great start with very strong back-to-school shipments and our best export month in a year. We applaud our partners for their role in these impressive results.”
July makes the fourth time in five months that the port has seen import gains – July (18.4 percent), May (4.8 percent), April (7.3 percent) and March (42.1 percent) – an indication that the U.S. economy is growing, and the stronger dollar is giving retailers the confidence to order more products from overseas to stock their shelves for consumers, the port said. The National Retail Federation (NRF) foresees at least 3 to 5 percent gains for the back-to-school and early holiday shopping seasons.
Through the first seven months of 2015, Long Beach cargo numbers are edging higher, with total cargo up 2.8 percent compared to the same period last year, imports up 1.4 percent and exports down 10.9 percent. Summer has been strong for Long Beach preparing us for the traditional fall peak.
