SoCal Ports’ February Container Traffic Declines
Container traffic at the Southern California ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach fell almost 7% in February from a year ago, in part due to the Chinese New Year in late January, which led to a decline in the following two weeks’ traffic.
Loaded imports at the sister facilities, which make up the largest U.S. port complex, declined 6.9% to 556,483 20-foot equivalent units, the ports said. Imports to Los Angeles dropped 10.6%, and Long Beach’s fell by 2.7%.
The Chinese New Year closed many factories in Asia for two to three weeks in February, the Port of Los Angeles said in a statement, adding that last year the holiday had a negative impact on March container volumes.
Combined container traffic at the ports, including imports, exports and empty containers, was down 5.7% to almost 950,000 TEUs, the ports said.
Los Angeles’ total TEU volume was down 9.1% to 431,738 TEUs, and Long Beach’s fell 2.6% year-over-year to 517,173 TEUs.
