File photo.
January marked the seventh straight month of cargo traffic gains for the Port of Long Beach (POLB), with a 24.8 percent increase in container shipments over January 2015, port officials announced today.
According to a POLB release, imports were up 30.3 percent to 278,491 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs), and the port moved 536,188 total TEUs. Exports jumped 8.4 percent to 106,739 container units, and empty containers rose 28.6 percent over the previous year. Last month, overall cargo volume jumped 5.4 percent compared to December 2014.
“We are encouraged by the strong start to the year, which stands in stark contrast to the congestion we faced a year ago,” said Port of Long Beach CEO Jon Slangerup in a statement. “Our January results are another indicator that the hard work by our entire Port team – our customers, employees, business partners and key community stakeholders – continues to deliver superior results.
Slangerup echoed these remarks in his annual State of the Port address last month. He said Long Beach is uniquely positioned to offer shipping companies one of the fasts routes from Asia, especially in comparison to East Coast ports. Access to Long Beach is made easy, he said, as ships don’t have to go through the Panama Canal and travel further distances to far-off waters.
Slangerup’s speech reinforced the port’s assertion that it is the “shortest, fastest and most cost effective gateway for multi-modal movement of goods from Asia to America’s major consumer markets.”
“We are off to a solid start in 2016 and will continue to make the necessary strategic investments in capital, energy and innovative solutions to ensure that Long Beach remains the port of choice for international trade,” said Slangerup in a statement.