Port of Oakland accepts empty Hanjin-owned containers from truckers

Meanwhile, the Port of Oakland said the softening of the U.S. dollar has resulted in an increase in the port’s loaded export volumes, which rose 8.8 percent year-over-year for the first eight months of 2016.    The Port of Oakland said Wednesday it will receive empty containers owned by South Korean liner carrier Hanjin Shipping, which filed for bankruptcy protection Aug. 31.
   Harbor truck drivers can return the empty boxes identified by the prefix HJCU on weekdays between 7:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. to the port’s Roundhouse property on Middle Harbor Road. The property is adjacent to the Oakland International Container Terminal (OICT), where Hanjin ships are loaded and unloaded.
   OICT is the port’s busiest terminal, handling 70 percent of the port’s containerized cargo. The terminal’s volumes have grown throughout the year and just yesterday, the port said the terminal’s extended gate hours will be permanent.
   The terminal will process Hanjin’s empty containers and remove them from chassis. Truck drivers will then be required to return the chassis through the terminal’s main gates.
   The Port of Oakland advised truckers to contact Hanjin to ensure that the empty containers are owned by Hanjin and not leased.
   Storage space is needed worldwide since the carrier will not accept empty containers on its vessels, the port said.
   “There’s still a lot of uncertainty regarding Hanjin’s bankruptcy filing,” Port of Oakland Maritime Director John Driscoll said. “With this move, we can at least eliminate the worry about storage and prevent a potentially crippling chassis shortage.”
   Meanwhile, the Port of Oakland also announced its August loaded export volumes rose 7 percent year-over-year to 83,063 TEUs, while for the first eight months of 2016, they rose 8.8 percent year-over-year to 618,108 TEUs.
   “We’ve had solid cargo production across the board,” Driscoll said. “But so far in 2016, exports are the star performers.” The increase in exports was driven by the softening of the U.S. dollar, since as the currency weakens, American exports become more affordable overseas.
   The port said exports comprise over half of its total cargo volumes, the highest ratio of any U.S. West Coast port.
   Agricultural exporters are forecasting good harvests this year, driven by last winter’s heavy rainfall.
   Although loaded export volumes were stronger, loaded import volumes in August fell 4.9 percent year-over-year to 78,429 TEUs. For the first eight months of 2016, loaded imports totaled 593,844 TEUs, a 6.6 percent increase from the corresponding period in 2015.