Los Angeles box volumes flat in May

Container business barely grew at the Port of Los Angeles, but it’s still an improvement from earlier this year.    The Port of Los Angeles handled 694,791 TEUs in May, up 0.8 percent on a year-over-year basis. May represents the first month of container growth this year.
   Container volumes from January through May are down 4 percent in Los Angeles to 3.18 million TEUs, although volumes have stabilized since the beginning of the year when a labor dispute between longshoremen and waterfront management over a new contract led to major disruptions in cargo flow and double digit volume declines. A labor settlement between the International Longshore and Warehouse Union and the Pacific Maritime Association was reached in late February and the contract was ratified by both sides last month.
   Loaded import volumes at the port decreased 0.8 percent in May to 348,427 TEUs and exports declined 3.5 percent to 152,917 TEUs. The port made up ground moving out empty containers, however, which increased 7.9 percent.
   Last year, the Port of Los Angeles handled 8.3 million standards shipping units, but the port still has not recovered to pre-recession levels, when volumes topped 8.5 million TEUs.
   The Port of Oakland on Friday reported that its container business grew 3.8 percent last month, but its overall volume (213,260 TEUS) is less than a third of Los Angeles’.