NWSA box volumes fall in January

Terminals operated by the Northwest Seaport Alliance (NWSA) of Seattle and Tacoma handled 250,762 TEUs for the month, a 16.7 percent decline from the same 2017 period.    Combined container volumes at the ports of Seattle and Tacoma fell 16.7 percent to 250,762 TEUs in January 2018, according to the most recent data from the Northwest Seaport Alliance (NWSA), which runs the ports’ collective marine cargo operations.
   Total international container throughput stood at 207,638 TEUs for the month, a 16.9 percent decrease from January 2017, as imports dropped 22.7 percent to 107,701 TEUs and export volumes slid 9.6 percent to 99,936 TEUs.
   NWSA terminals handled a total of 43,124 TEUs of domestic container cargo in January, down 15.9 percent from the same 2017 period. Alaska volumes declined 18.3 percent due to “unscheduled vessel dry docking and soft market conditions,” said NWSA, while Hawaii volumes through the Pacific Northwest ports declined 4.6 percent.
   The January decline follows a 2017 year in which container volumes at the NWSA ports grew 1.4 percent to 3.67 million TEUs.
   In other cargo categories, breakbulk volumes grew 6.8 percent to 15,487 metric tons for the month, while automobile throughput fell 18 to 10,338 units, “mirroring the overall decline in the North American auto import market,” according to the NWSA.