Tacoma port volumes flat

Tacoma port volumes flat Cargo volumes at the Port of Tacoma grew less than 1 percent in 2006, according to numbers issued by the Washington port Monday.
   The port experienced a slight gain of 4,000 TEUs over the previous year, ending 2006 with 2.07 million TEUs moved. The growth was modest compared with 2005 when Tacoma's container volume grew more than 20 percent.
   According to port officials, shipping lines sent more cargo through the U.S. Northwest ports in 2004 and 2005 to avoid real and potential congestion at Southern California ports. When the congestion did not materialize in 2005, shippers returned the cargo to Southern California in 2006, to the detriment of ports like Tacoma.
   As a whole, West Coast ports have reported an average 9 percent increase in container traffic.