Port of L.A. enjoys May box boom

The Port of Los Angeles set a container throughput record in May as cargo volumes continue their strong growth in 2016.    The Port of Los Angeles set a monthly record in May for container volumes with 770,409 TEUs, an increase of 11 percent from the same month in 2015.
   Year-to-date volumes at the port are up 8.7 percent to 3.5 million TEUs compared to the first five months of 2016, although the comparisons are skewed for the first quarter because of the labor slowdown in early 2015 that significantly reduced productivity at West Coast ports.
   May loaded imports increased 15 percent to 400,765 TEUs. Loaded exports rose 6.3 percent to 162,487 TEUs and empty containers grew 7.1 percent.
   The Port of Long Beach, Los Angeles’ next-door neighbor, handled 640,566 TEUs last month. Volumes were flat year-over-year (0.8 percent growth), but have increased 1.4 percent to 2.7 million TEUs in the first five months of the year.