Eastbound Pacific growth about 13-15% in 2004

Eastbound Pacific growth about 13-15% in 2004 The booming Asia-to-U.S. box traffic was expected to have increased 13 to 15 percent through 2004, reaching 10.4 million to 10.6 million and exceeding the 10-million-TEU mark for the first time.
   MOL’s research arm said the eastbound Asia-to-U.S. traffic rose 16.6 percent in the first 10 months of 2004, to 8.9 million TEUs, but with growth slowing to 9.5 percent in October.
   Maersk Sealand told American Shipper recently it expected Pacific trade growth of 13 percent for 2004, after growth of more than 15 percent in the first three quarters of the year.
   Final traffic statistics for November-December have not been published.
   2004 marked a return to fast cargo growth in the eastbound Pacific trade, after the more modest 8-percent growth experienced in 2003.
   The latest figures also show that a large portion of the additional transpacific cargoes in October was routed through ports other than Los Angeles and Long Beach, as was also the case in September.
   In October, the total Asia-to-U.S. container volume amounted to about 960,000 TEUs, about 84,000 TEUs more than in the same month of 2003.
   The ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach handled about 636,000 TEUs of inbound loaded boxes coming from all origin regions in October, only about 40,000 TEUs more than in October 2003, as the southern Californian ports struggled to cope with congestion.