L.A., LONG BEACH TOPPED 10 MILLION TEUS IN 2002

L.A., LONG BEACH TOPPED 10 MILLION TEUS IN 2002    The Los Angeles-Long Beach port complex handled more than 10 million TEUs for the first time in 2002, the ports’ statistics show.
   The combined container traffic volume of the two major South Californian ports reached 10.63 million TEUs last year, up 10 percent on the 9.65 million volume for 2001. This translates into an average of 1,213 TEUs an hour, or 20 a minute.
   The West Coast ports were affected by a 12-day port shutdown in October and the diversion of some cargo to U.S. East Coast, Canadian and Mexican ports.
   Some 6.11 million TEUs moved across the docks of the port of Los Angeles in 2002, an increase of 18 percent on the previous year. In neighboring Long Beach, annual container traffic edged up 1 percent last year, to 4.52 million TEUs. Growth in Long Beach was hindered by the departure of Maersk Sealand in August.
   The increase in container traffic at both ports was driven mainly by imports of loaded containers, and by a higher number of outbound empty containers.