NWSA volumes slide for third straight month

Throughput at terminals operated by the Northwest Seaport Alliance slipped another 4.4 percent.    The Northwest Seaport Alliance (NWSA), which includes the ports of Seattle and Tacoma, handled 309,243 TEUs of containerized cargo in May, a 4.4 percent decline from the same month a year ago, according to the latest data from the ports.
   Total international container volumes slipped 5.2 percent year-over-year to 245,294 TEUs, as a 0.7 percent uptick in international imports to 131,067 TEUs was more than offset by an 11.2 percent drop in exports to 114,227 TEUs.
   Throughput of domestic cargo slipped 1.3 percent to 63,950 TEUs compared with the same 2017 period, with volumes to/from Alaska falling 0.6 percent to 54,591 TEUs due to continued soft market conditions and shipments to/from Hawaii sliding 4.9 percent to 9,359 TEUs.
   Total cargo volumes have now fallen in each of the last three months on a year-over-year basis and four of the first five months of 2018 following a decreases of 9.6 percent in March and 1.1 percent in April.
   So far this year, overall container throughput at NWSA terminals is down 5.1 percent to just over 1.4 million TEUs compared with the same five-month period in 2017.
   NWSA attributed the May decline primarily to a tough comparison in the corresponding 2017 period, when “volumes were inflated due to an overlap in old and new vessel services during the launch of the new carrier alliances.”
   NWSA noted, however, that the ports added two new weekly services this spring that are expected to increase capacity and direct call options for shippers. SM Line’s new standalone PNS service called Terminal 18 in Seattle for the first time last month, while THE Alliance’s PS8 service made its inaugural call to Washington United Terminals in Tacoma.
   According to ocean carrier schedule database BlueWater Reporting, the PNS loop, which commenced May 10 with the sailing of the SM Qingdao from Yantian, is operated with six vessels with an average capacity of 4,355 TEUs. The service has a full port rotation of Yantian, Ningbo, Shanghai, Busan, Vancouver BC, Seattle, Tokyo, Busan, Gwangyang and Yantian.
   The PS8 is operated with six vessels, all from alliance member Yang Ming, with an average capacity of 5,795 TEUs and a full port rotation of Xingang, Qingdao, Shanghai, Busan, Prince Rupert, Los Angeles, Tacoma, Busan, Gwangyang and Xingang.
   In non-containerized cargo, breakbulk volumes surged 34.8 percent to 97,057 metric tons through the first five months of 2018, but year-to-date auto volumes have now fallen 15 percent to 50,881 units, “mirroring the overall decline in the North American auto import market,” NWSA said.