NWSA sees 5% container growth in first half 2017

Through the first six months of the year, full import volumes at the Pacific Northwest ports of Seattle and Tacoma were up 6 percent to 803,357 TEUs, while full exports were flat at 540,344 TEUs, according to data from the Northwest Seaport Alliance.    Container volumes at the Pacific Northwest ports of Seattle and Tacoma rose 5 percent during the first half of the year despite a 1 percent dip in throughput for the month of July, according to recent data from the Northwest Seaport Alliance (NWSA), the ports’ marine cargo operating partnership.
   Year-to-date, combined full import volumes at the ports were up 6 percent to 803,357 TEUs, while full exports were flat at 540,344 TEUs. Total international container volumes, including empties, increased 9 percent to 1.7 million TEUs during the first half. Year-to-date 2017 total international TEU volumes were the highest since 2007, NWSA said.
   July, however, was an all-around bad month for full container volumes at the ports. Full imports dropped 2 percent to 109,182 TEUs compared to last year, while full exports were down 13 percent to 63,599 TEUs for the month.
   But empty exports, mainly containers being sent to Asia to be refilled with goods, grew 39 percent, according to NWSA data.
   Total domestic container volumes – those moving to and from Alaska and Hawaii – fell 8 percent in July compared to the same month last year, according to the seaport alliance.
   Hawaii volumes are down 5 percent year-to-date due to diversion to Southern California, according to the ports, while Alaska’s year-to-date volumes through the Pacific Northwest ports are down 9 percent and are expected to end the year 8 percent lower than 2016 due to soft market conditions caused in part by recent changes in vessel deployments by the new ocean carrier alliances.
   In other cargo categories, log volumes continue to grow due to consistent demand from China, NWSA says. Volumes rose 101 percent to 186,582 metric tons year to date compared with first six months of 2016.
   Breakbulk cargo and auto volumes, on the other hand, were both disappointing in the first half of 2017. Breakbulk was flat at 108,321 metric tons year-to-date, while auto shipments dropped 23 percent year-over-year to 82,480 units.