Port of Long Beach Container Volume Drops on Hanjin Bankruptcy
The consequences of the Hanjin Shipping bankruptcy have led to a decline of 17% in cargo at the Port of Long Beach, California, the second-largest U.S. port and the largest port of call used by the ocean carrier.
The decline showed a total of 545,805 TEUs, or industry standard 20-foot container units, moved in the month. Hanjin filed for receivership on Aug. 31 in its home city of Seoul, Korea. The year-earlier total was 655,624 TEU.
Import totals at Long Beach fell 15%, exports declined 4.2% and empty containers declined 27%.
Farther north, the Port of Oakland’s cargo totals fell 5% entirely because of a 40% decline in empty containers. Exports at Oakland dropped 10%, outpacing import shipments, which fell 4.2%.
The port’s statement said, “The number of containers handled during September was impacted not only by reduced calls by Hanjin-operated ships, but also by the absence of Hanjin containers on vessels operated by fellow CKYHE Alliance members.”
Prior to its failure, Hanjin accounted for 12.3% of Long Beach cargo volume, or about 885,000 TEUs last year, when total cargo handled was 7.19 million.
Long Beach cargo totals for the year to date declined 4.6%. Oakland is up 3.5% over the first nine months.
