Port of Oakland November container volumes slip 5.5%

After several months of strong growth in containerized cargo, the Northern California port’s TEU throughput figures were down nearly across the board for in November compared with the same month a year ago.    Port of Oakland container terminals handled a total of 186,069 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) in November, down more than 10,000 containers (5.5 percent) from the 196,980 TEUs the port moved during the same month last year, according to newly released data.
   The numbers were down nearly across the board for the port in November. As has been the case in recent months, full exports made up the bulk of Oakland’s volume.
   Port terminals sent about 77,000 loaded TEUs overseas last month, compared to 85,915 TEUs in November 2016. Also, full imports totaled 72,330 units this November, compared to 73,473 TEUs in 2016.
   The one increase was in empty exports, which totaled 19,372 TEUs, compared to 18,724 TEUs in November 2016. However, empty imports totaled 17,355 TEUs last month, compared to 18,868 TEUs a year ago.
   The good news, the port said, is that containerized import volume for 2017 is still outpacing 2016 totals despite a pause last month during which is declined 1.6 percent from the same month last year.
   Imports were up 3.8 percent through the first 11 months of 2017, according to port data. Gains came mostly from the summer-autumn peak season when retailers replenished holiday inventories, the port said.
   Total 2017 container volume – imports, exports and empties – was up 2 percent through the first 11 months of the year, Port of Oakland statistics show.