Port of Long Beach: Record January Leading to ‘Moderately Busy’ Spring
Written by Marybeth Luczak, Executive Editor
At the Port of Long Beach, more than 800,000 containers moved in January as workers cleared cargo from terminals.
Port of Long Beach, Calif., dockworkers and terminal operators moved 800,943 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) in January, up 4.8% from prior-year period; it was the busiest January on record, and the port reported that it expects to be “moderately busy into the spring.”
The previous January record with more than 800,000 TEUs logged was set in 2021.
Last month, the Port of Long Beach saw imports rise 6.9% to 389,334 TEUs; exports grow 5.9% to 123,060 TEUs; and empty containers increase 1.8% to 288,550 TEUs.
While import activity “traditionally slows down in February as overseas factories close for Lunar New Year celebrations,” the Port anticipates that “this month may be busier than usual as work continues to clear the docks and reduce the number of ships waiting to enter the Port amid a historic cargo surge.”
The Port of Long Beach noted that it has delayed until Feb. 18 the start of a “Container Dwell Fee” that would charge ocean carriers for containers that remain too long on the docks. “Still, the San Pedro Bay ports—Long Beach and Los Angeles combined—have seen a 68% decline in aging cargo on the docks since the program was announced on Oct. 25,” the Port said. (Both ports are slated to charge ocean carriers for every container that is scheduled to move by truck and dwells nine days or more, or by rail and dwells three days or more.)
“Despite an increase in COVID-19 cases, 467,000 payroll jobs were added nationally in January as prices rose,” the Port noted. “An inventory build-up at the end of 2021 points to an easing of supply chain snarls, meaning consumers will have more products to purchase this spring.”
“Terminal capacity is finally opening up thanks to support from our federal and state leadership, collaboration with industry partners, and the hard work of the men and women moving record amounts of cargo off the docks,” Port of Long Beach Executive Director Mario Cordero said. “We expect to remain moderately busy into the spring as we make significant progress to clear the docks and process the backlog of vessels waiting off shore.”
In related developments, the Port ended 2021 with 9,384,368 twenty-foot equivalent units processed, up 15.7% from the previous record of more than 8.11 million TEUs moved in 2020. “The significant increase in cargo was driven by evolving consumer spending habits during the COVID-19 pandemic, when consumer demand for travel and entertainment declined due to health precautions and pivoted toward online spending,” the Port said.
