Ports of L.A./Long Beach post opposite throughput results for November

The Port of Los Angeles established a new throughput record in November, while the nearby Port of Long Beach saw container volumes fall 13.8 percent year-over-year during the month.

   While the Port of Los Angeles posted positive container throughput results for the month of November compared to a year prior, the Port of Long Beach reported declines.
   During the month, the Port of Los Angeles handled 877,564 TEUs, surpassing all-time volumes for a Western Hemisphere port for the second straight month, and climbing 23.6 percent from last November, the port said Wednesday.
   Imports through the Port of Los Angeles reached 437,050 TEUs in November, while exports totaled 177,359 TEUs, year-over-year increases of 21.9 percent and 24.9 percent, respectively. The port’s empty container volumes surged 25.6 percent from last November to 263,154 TEUs.
   Meanwhile, the Port of Long Beach handled 534,308 TEUs in November, tumbling 13.8 percent from a year earlier.
   Imports through the port of Long Beach reached 270,610 TEUs in November, while exports stood at 120,897 TEUs, year-over-year declines of 11.8 percent and 3.1 percent, respectively. Empty container volumes fell 24.2 percent from last November to 148,801 TEUs.
   The Port of Long Beach said Wednesday it has faced challenges this year due to ocean carriers merging, reorganizing into new alliances and realigning routes. In addition, the port has been hindered by the insolvency of South Korean ocean carrier Hanjin Shipping, which filed for bankruptcy at the end of August. Hanjin represented 12.3 percent of the port’s containerized cargo and held a 54 percent stake in Total Terminals International (TTI), the operator of Pier T.
   Ocean carrier schedule and capacity database BlueWater Reporting’s Port Dashboard tool shows the Port of Los Angeles is frequented by 24 liner services, 23 of which operate with fully cellular containerships. The 2M Alliance’s AE6/TP6/Lion/Pearl has the largest average vessel capacity of all loops calling the port at 13,207 TEUs. The loop serves the Asia-Europe and transpacific trades.
   BlueWater Reporting also shows 18 liner services call the Port of Long Beach, 14 of which deploy fully cellular containerships. The transpacific CEN/CALCO-Q, which COSCO supplies vessels for, has the largest average vessel capacity of services calling the port at 12,653 TEUs.
   In addition to these two southern California ports, further up the coast, the Port of Oakland said it handled 196,981 TEUs in November, up 2.3 percent from November 2015.