Commentary: L.A., Long Beach and the solar system

   So 2013 is the year of Long Beach, it seems.
   The nation’s second biggest port has enjoyed a banner first half. With cargo volume up more than 14 percent through June, Long Beach has nabbed some market share from its neighbor, Los Angeles.
   This will be an eternal battle, it seems, or eternal for at least as long as container trade from Asia to North America exists. Cargo seems to flow back and forth between Long Beach and Los Angeles like binary stars.
   To save you a trip to Wikipedia, binary stars are two stars so close in proximity that they can appear to be one until closer inspection. In fact, often the individual stars in a binary system are so large and so close together that matter passes from one star’s gravitational field to the other, until the second star is so large that the outer edges of its field are closer to the core of the first star, so matter then often flows back to the first star. The process repeats over time.
   The dips and rises in the comparative cargo volumes of Long Beach and Los Angeles seem to function the same. Since the 2008-09 economic downturn corrected the vision for long-term growth at the ports, they have been largely fighting each other for a relatively same-sized pie. In other words, the amount of matter has hardly changed.
   Ten years ago, the two ports handled roughly 11.8 million TEUs, of which Los Angeles handled 7.1 million TEUs. Five years ago, it was 14.3 million TEUs, of which Los Angeles handled 7.8 million TEUs. Last year, they handled 14.1 million TEUs, of which Los Angeles handled 8.1 million TEUs.
   Long Beach seems on course to handle more than 6.5 million TEUs this year, Los Angeles about 7.6 million TEUs. In other words, the matter changes hands, but the size of the binary system doesn’t seem to be expanding all that rapidly. (Eric Johnson)