The Lunar New Year has come and gone, but its impact at U.S. ports has been felt for weeks after the holiday.. Even with the impacts of the Lunar New Year arising at ports across the country in the form of sequential declines in imports, port figures across the board are holding up compared to the previous year.
Ports Higher
The Port of Los Angeles led the West Coast ports higher on an annual basis, growing at a faster rate than the neighbouring Port of Long Beach.
The Port of Los Angeles handled 743,417 twenty-foot equivalent units during March, which was down 4.9% month over month but 19.3% higher than March 2023.
Exports Gain Momentum
Exports gained momentum in March, as the Port of Los Angeles handled 144,717.80 loaded TEUs for export. This was the largest number of loaded export TEUs in 2024 to date and an increase of 9% from February. The growth is even more astounding when compared to March 2023, as loaded exports jumped 47.3% y/y.
The Port of Long Beach had a different experience than the country’s largest port in March. The Port of Long Beach saw growth in imports, but the gains were more modest than its neighbor’s, and export numbers were lower on a year-over-year basis.
The Port of Long Beach handled 654,082 TEUs during March, an increase of 8.3% compared to March 2023. Similar to Los Angeles, the port handled fewer TEUs than it did in both January and February, falling 3.1% month over month and 3% fewer than January.
Imports Remain Modest
While import growth was fairly modest, exports were challenged. The Port of Long Beach handled 105,099 loaded export TEUs during March, 21.3% fewer than the port handled during the same period last year. Though exports were down year over year, they grew sequentially. The Port of Long Beach handled 20.1% more loaded export TEUs month over month, accelerating from the 1.1% m/m growth experienced in February.
On the East Coast, the Port of Savannah, Georgia, is still in growth mode. It handled 18.5% more TEUs than it did in March 2023.The port handled 435,997 total TEUs during March, down 3.5% from February.
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Source : FreightWaves
