West Coast cargo box volumes remain flat through October

West Coast cargo box volumes remain flat through October As North American consumers move into the holiday retail season full swing, cargo volume numbers from the initial peak shipping season months indicate that 2007 is going to be a flat year for the U.S. West Coast transportation sector.
   The major West Coast ports continued to post flat or declining container numbers for the year through October, with transpacific air freight cargo volumes matching the downward trend.
   With a 40 percent share of the U.S. inbound containerized cargo market, the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles have often been a bellwether for the rest of the West Coast ocean cargo sector. The two neighboring ports, which combined represent the busiest container port complex in the Western Hemisphere, continue to record near zero growth in cargo volumes over 2006.
   Further north the Port of Oakland has strayed into the negative for the year, with the Puget Sound ports of Seattle and Tacoma also reporting container volume declines.
   The one bright spot for the West Coast may be the Canadian port of Vancouver, which is showing a modest increase in box volumes for the year to date.
   Los Angeles, the nation's busiest container port, reported a 6.5 percent drop in loaded inbound container volumes during October, and a total cargo drop of nearly 8.1 percent for the month over the year-ago period. The port's container volumes are down nearly 7.5 percent since July 1, but the port continues to hover at the near zero growth point, with the current yearly numbers showing a 0.78 percent increase over the first 10 months of 2006.
   Neighboring Long Beach is faring little better during the crucial peak season shipping months, with October loaded inbound container volumes down 3.7 percent over the same period last year, and a total volume decline for the month of 0.9 percent. Long Beach is faring slightly better over the entire year to date, with total container volumes since January up 1.1 percent over the same period in 2006.
   In the Bay Area, the Port of Oakland's loaded inbound container numbers fell 1.3 percent over October 2006, but thanks to a hefty 12.5 percent increase in loaded outbound boxes, managed to post an 0.8 percent total container volume gain for the month. In year to date numbers, Oakland has slid 0.9 percent compared to the first 10 months of last year.
   The Washington state ports of Seattle and Tacoma also continued a negative growth trend during October, with Seattle posting a 1 percent drop in total container volumes for the month and Tacoma reporting a sizable 5 percent drop compared to October 2006. For the year to date compared to last year, Seattle is posting a 0.9 percent drop and Tacoma posting a 5.4 percent decline.
   Beyond the northern border, Vancouver was up 3.9 percent for October and just slightly higher for the year to date with a 4 percent increase posted.
   Air freight cargo volumes on transpacific routes continued their downward trend for the third consecutive month in October, with volumes through the U.S. West Coast falling an additional five percent. The trend mirrors the overall airfreight volume declines throughout North America, which fell a total of 3 percent in October, according to financial research firm RW Baird.
   While the Asia and European air freight markets continued to show stable growth in October — 4 percent growth in Asia and 5 percent in Europe — air freight totals for all of North America dropped 3 percent. RW Baird said it expected to see near zero growth volumes in the transpacific air and ocean sectors through the rest of the year.