Feb.14--THE ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach reported a 37 per cent year-on-year in container imports in January, but this compares with a time when both ports were jammed up because of labour strife.

Nonetheless, Long Beach handled 278,491 TEU of imports in January, up 30.5 per cent year on year. Los Angeles imported 367,209 TEU up 41 per cent from last January. 

But a strong dollar retarded exports. Long Beach's exports came to 106,739 TEU, up 8.1 per cent year on year. Los Angeles exported 126,241 TEU, up 1.6 per cent from last January. 

Both ports' empties were up 25 per cent from January 2014, and more than 37 per cent year on year. Long Beach moved 150,958 TEU in empties while Los Angeles moved 210,949.

Compared to the same period in 2014, the ports' combined volume only grew one per cent. Exports were up five per cent, but down 18 per cent from January 2014.

Growth remains subdued because US retailers and manufacturers have been slow to ramp up imports after the holidays, opting instead to work through large inventories built up last year. 

Some Southern California shipping businesses are bracing for an uptick in inbound cargo after the shuttering of the Outer Harbour Terminal in Oakland, that port's second largest of five terminals, reports the Wall Street Journal. 

But international trade economist Jock O'Connell said much of Oakland's imports are destined for local markets, and trucking them up from Southern California would be too expensive.

(Source:shippingazette)