Port of Long Beach has third-busiest import month

Long Beach had 7.3% more container traffic in September than in thg same month last year.    The Port of Long Beach said Tuesday it handled 629,771 TEUs in September, 7.3-percent more than in September 2013. The port said it was the port’s busiest September since 2007, the port’s peak year.
   Of those, 339,343 TEUs were imports, up 10.2 percent compared to September last year. Exports declined 12.1 percent to 118,412 TEUs. Empty container moves increased 19.1 percent to 172,016 TEUs. Empty containers are typically repositioned overseas to be refilled with goods.
   The port said holiday merchandise drove the higher cargo volumes. The jump in imports made this September the third-busiest import month in Long Beach’s history. For the year to date, Port of Long Beach containerized cargo is up 1.7 percent.
   The neighboring port of Los Angeles said last week it handled 775,113 TEUs in September 2014, 9-percent more than September 2013. It was the busiest single month at the Port of Los Angeles since August 2006.