Port of Long Beach on track top 9 million cargo threshold this year, setting another record

The Port of Long Beach is astir to transverse the 9 cardinal cargo instrumentality — capping what has been a singular twelvemonth already with a second-consecutive record-breaking yearly total.

The milestone comes arsenic some the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles conflict nether what has been a more-than-yearlong, unrelenting surge that has kept an armada of ships sitting astatine anchor extracurricular the harbor and terminal docks overloaded with containers.

From January done November, 8.6 cardinal twenty-foot equivalent Units — the industry’s modular measurement for cargo — moved done the Port of Long Beach, the commercialized hub announced connected Thursday, Dec. 9. That already has surpassed the existing yearly grounds of 8.1 TEUs acceptable past year.

Together, some ports are expected to transcend 20 cardinal TEUs for the 2021 calendar year.

The November Long Beach numbers were somewhat down — by 4.9% — from November 2020, which was the port’s strongest November connected record.

Last period saw 745,488 TEUs travel done the Port of Long Beach.

November stats from the Port of Los Angeles volition beryllium released precocious adjacent week.

Port of Long Beach Executive Director Mario Cordero said the port’s biggest situation remains the propulsion to wide cargo truthful products tin get to store shelves for the holidays.

“Clearing the enactment of ships waiting to participate our larboard and moving containers disconnected the docks are our apical priorities,” helium said successful a written statement, “to guarantee shelves are stocked and consumers tin acquisition gifts during the vacation season.”

The proviso concatenation slowdown has dominated headlines and prompted authorities and national efforts to look into however to determination goods on much quickly, though determination has been immoderate advancement of late.

“We are seeing notable improvements toward achieving that goal,” Cordero said, “as we proceed to assistance our proviso concatenation partners drawback up and guarantee goods are delivered arsenic soon arsenic possible.”

The 34 ships that were waiting to participate the duplicate larboard analyzable connected Thursday was a stark opposition to the much than 80 ships successful the queue astatine 1 constituent past month.

That diminution is due to the fact that of a caller queuing process implemented successful November.

The strategy was enactment unneurotic by the Pacific Maritime Association, the Pacific Merchant Shipping Association and the Marine Exchange of Southern California and staggers ships by utilizing immoderate spots arsenic acold arsenic 150 miles disconnected the coastline for queuing. Fewer ships, arsenic a result, are crowded close disconnected the coastline, which besides is expected to amended information and supply little contamination for section communities.

Ocean carriers besides person proactively stepped up to determination much aging cargo disconnected the docks, avoiding the appraisal of a punitive instrumentality dwell interest enacted by some ports connected Oct. 25. The duplicate ports person delayed implementing the interest 4 times truthful acold and it won’t spell into effect until astatine slightest adjacent week.

Finding much staging areas for containers, extending terminal hours and providing incentives for truckers to driblet disconnected export containers erstwhile picking up an import are different steps being taken by some ports.

The National Retail Federation , meanwhile, is forecasting vacation retail income to beryllium somewhat beneath the pre-pandemic precocious reached successful 2019.

Sign up for The Localist, our regular email newsletter with handpicked stories applicable to wherever you live. Subscribe here.