Port of Oakland sees record import volumes in July

A total of 209,883 TEUs moved through the Northern California port last month, a substantial improvement over the 206,600 TEUs the port handled during the same month last year, according to recent data from the Port of Oakland.    The Port of Oakland last month set an all-time record for import cargo, handling the equivalent of nearly 84,500 loaded 20-foot import containers, the most for a single month in its 90-year history, breaking the previous record of 84,023 TEUs set in March 2015.
   The port handled 84,835 TEUs of full imports in July, compared with 80,508 during the same month in 2016, according to recent data from the Northern California port. Laden exports for July stood at 74,821 TEUs for the month, compared with 77,573 TEUs last year.
   July import volumes increased 5.4 percent over the same period a year ago, with the surge coming at the start of peak season, when shippers transport additional cargo ahead of holiday and back-to-school sales.
   “Retailers have been forecasting strong peak season import numbers this year and so far, they’re right,” port Maritime Director John Driscoll said.
   A total of 209,883 TEUs moved through the Port of Oakland last month, a substantial improvement over the 206,600 TEUs handled by the port during July 2016.
   Overall, a total of 159,656 full TEUs were imported and exported through Oakland terminals in July, a leap of over 1,000 units from the 158,081 full containers that came through the docks in July 2016.
   Regarding empty TEU exports, which are typically containers being sent overseas, primarily to Asia, to be refilled and brought back to the U.S., Oakland shipped out 34,838 last month, a 10.6 percent increase from 31,502 TEUs in July 2016. Empty containers imported into Oakland in July declined by almost 2,000 TEUs, amounting to 15,389 TEUs compared with 17,017 TEUs the previous year.
   Overall, the port moved 50,227 empty containers total last month compared to 48,519 during the same month last year.
   Oakland, which is California’s third-largest port, after those in Los Angeles and Long Beach, ranks as the fifth busiest in the U.S. by container volume.