U.S. West Coast ports thrive in November 2017

The nation’s five major West Coast container ports collectively handled 5.9 percent more inbound TEUs in November 2017 compared to a year prior, according to data released by the Pacific Merchant Shipping Association.    The five major U.S. West Coast container ports – Los Angeles, Long Beach, Oakland, Tacoma and Seattle – collectively handled 54,328 more inbound TEUs in November 2017 than they did 12 months prior, resulting in a year-over-year gain of 5.9 percent, according to newly compiled data released by the Pacific Merchant Shipping Association (PMSA).
   The statistics are included in the PMSA’s latest monthly West Coast Trade Report, which was released Friday.
   North of the border, British Columbia’s ports of Vancouver and Prince Rupert collectively posted a container import gain of 27.9 percent year-over-year in November 2017, while south of the border, Mexico’s ports of Manzanillo and Lazaro Cardenas recorded a combined 7.3 percent year-over-year boost in import container traffic.
   November saw the adjoining ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach reassert themselves as the nation’s dominant container import terminals, as the two San Pedro Bay ports collectively handled 10.6 percent more TEUs than they had in November 2016.
   The import surge through Southern California’s San Pedro Bay was not, however, matched at either the Port of Oakland, which fell short of November 2016’s total by 1.6 percent, a decline of 1,143 TEUs, or at the Northwest Seaport Alliance ports of Seattle and Tacoma, which posted a year-over-year drop of 19,770 TEUs, or 14.8 percent.
   However, statistics compiled by the Pacific Maritime Association (PMA) revealed widely divergent results at the ports of Seattle and Tacoma. At the Port of Seattle, PMA figures illustrated a 41.5 percent year-over-year increase in inbound loaded containers from November 2016, but a 22.1 percent drop at the Port of Tacoma.
   On the loaded export TEU side, the big five U.S. West Coast ports handled 22,007 fewer outbound loaded TEUs in November 2017 from 12 months prior, a decline of 4.6 percent.
   Although the two San Pedro Bay ports posted a combined 2 percent year-over-year increase of 6,020 TEUs in November 2017, this was more than offset by a 10.3 percent decline, or 8,873 TEUs, at the Port of Oakland and a 20.1 percent drop, or 19,154 TEUs, at the two Northwest Seaport Alliance ports.
   Seattle’s outbound trade rose 7,241 TEUs, or 19.4 percent year-over-year in November 2017, while Tacoma’s fell 5,471 TEUs, or 8.2 percent.
   Meanwhile, PMSA’s data showed that the two West Coast Canadian ports saw their outbound trades slip by 6,383 TEUs, or 2.4 percent year-over-year in November 2017.
   In regards to containerized import tonnage, U.S. West Coast ports recorded a 4.3 percent year-over-year boost in November 2017, according to the U.S. Commerce Department’s value and weight trade statistics, while all other mainland ports saw only a slight rise of 0.6 percent. Consequently, the U.S. West Coast share of mainland U.S. containerized import tonnage rose to 42 percent during the month, up from a 38.2 percent share in October and a 40.6 percent share the previous November.