Dampen U.S. trade volumes in November
A volatile longshore labor situation at West Coast ports could dampen U.S. trade volumes in November, but the net impact on October’s total inbound container volume was likely negligible, according to port officials and maritime experts.
In October, it appeared that congestion at Southern California ports prompted a shift in some import volume to other U.S. docks, particularly on the East Coast, but didn’t wallop throughput overall.
U.S. ports’ most recent data on loaded-container volume, for October, suggest that import declines at Southern California ports were at least partially offset by import volume increases at large East Coast ports.
Loaded import container volume rose in October from September at the ports of Oakland, California, Portland, Oregon, where inbound auto units also increased, Seattle, Washington, Houston, Texas, New York and New Jersey, Charleston, South Carolina and Savannah, Georgia, according to port data. But at the two largest U.S. container ports, Los Angeles and Long Beach, California, loaded inbound cargo fell a combined 9% in October from September. The sister ports’ year-over-year import volume rose by 5.7%, however, according to statistics provided by the Port of Long Beach.
“I think we have lost some cargo to diversion,” Jim MacLellan, director of trade services at the Port of Los Angeles, told MNI.
“But retailers started advancing shipments in the first quarter. So all the Christmas cargoes have already arrived, and we really shouldn’t see too many shortages in the stores this holiday season.”