Port of Oakland continues box rebound in February

The Port of Oakland’s total container volumes (both full and empties) stood at 188,139 TEUs for the month, a 54.2 percent increase from February 2015.    Port of Oakland’s total container volume (both full and empty) in February stood at 188,139 TEUs, a 54.2 percent increase from the year before, when U.S. West Coast ports saw cargo throughput drop due to severe congestion issues.
   The Northern California port handled 70,620 TEUs of loaded import containers in February, an 89.7 percent increase over the same month last year. February loaded export containers reached 73,455 TEUs, a 37 percent bump from the same period in 2015.
   The port authority attributed the boost in import container traffic across its docks primarily to the increasing strength of the U.S. dollar.
   “With a labor contract in place, one expects to see container volumes for imports and exports return to prior established levels (prior to the drawn-out contract negotiations),” it added in a statement.
   “This is further evidence that we have regained the cargo that temporarily left our port a year ago,” said John C. Driscoll, the Port of Oakland’s maritime director.