Ports of Los Angeles, Seattle report sluggish box growth for May

Ports of Los Angeles, Seattle report sluggish box growth for May    In marked contrast with the port of Long Beach, the ports of Los Angeles and Seattle experienced sluggish growth of about 1 percent in May.
   Total box traffic at the port of Los Angeles rose 1.4 percent in May to 660,839 TEUs. Traffic at the Pacific Northwest port of Seattle was up 1 percent to 142,045 TEUs over May 2003. These increases compare with the 20.5-percent jump in container traffic for May reported earlier this week by the port of Long Beach.
   The port of Los Angeles said loaded inbound containers rose 6 percent in May to 361,413 TEUs, whereas the port of Long Beach reported an increase of 23.6 percent in inbound traffic to 242,910 TEUs from a lower base.
   For the first five months of the calendar year Seattle's total box traffic was up 3.6 percent to 632,130 TEUs. Over the same period, Los Angeles' port traffic was up 4.3 percent, to 3 million TEUs, while Long Beach was up 13.7 percent to 2 million TEUs.