Oakland’s containerized exports increase, but imports drop

A recent decline in the value of the U.S. dollar is benefiting exports, but it is too early to declare a trend, according to Port of Oakland Maritime Director John Driscoll.    Containerized imports at the Port of Oakland were up 9.9 percent in March and 19.9 percent in the first three months of the year over the comparable periods in 2015. Imports at the Northern California port, however, were down 32.5 percent year-over-year in March.
   Total traffic, including empties was down 14.6 percent for the month.
   Port officials attributed the gains in exports to a recent decline in the strength of the dollar. U.S. goods are more affordable overseas when the dollar’s value declines.
   Export volumes at the port declined for most of 2015.
   “It’s too soon to declare this a trend, but we’re encouraged by recent signs,” said Port of Oakland Maritime Director John Driscoll. “Exports are a critical component of our business.”
   For Oakland, exports comprise more than half the Port’s total 2016 cargo volume, whereas other West Coast ports are dominated by import traffic. Oakland is the leading gateway for growers in California’s Central Valley shipping their crops to China, Japan and other Asian destinations.
   The port said total containerized cargo volume – imports, exports and empty containers – is up 18.9 percent so far this year.
   The port linked the overall decrease in traffic in March to an unfavorable comparison with extraordinary March 2015 volumes. That’s when the floodgates opened at West Coast ports following the protracted waterfront contract dispute between the International Longshore and Warehouse Union and its employers. The port also said that March volumes were limited by a seasonal post-Lunar New Year slowdown in imports from Asia.
   A March 24 article on Farm Journal’s Ag Web noted that analysts had told it the “sliding U.S. dollar could boost corn and soybean exports, but wheat remains under pressure from foreign competitors with weaker currencies.”
   It said a decision by the U.S. Federal Reserve Bank to leave interest rates unchanged weakened the dollar, raising hopes that it could hike agricultural exports, but that some analysts were less optimistic about a bounce in exports from the weakened dollar.