Port of Long Beach CEO says cargo is up for eight months in row
Combining the numbers of Long Beach and neighbouring port of Los Angeles, the container volumes are seeing a 23% jump in first quarter y-o-y, as per Mario Cordero, CEO of Port of Long Beach.
By Bloomberg |
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The cargo surge appears to be showing up in freight costs.
“I think you’re gonna see that our volume from April is is higher than any month that we’ve had this year in 2024,” Cordero said in an interview Thursday. April’s data will show “eight months of continued positive growth.”
“Our first quarter ended up real well,” Cordero said. When Long Beach’s numbers are combined with neighboring Port of Los Angeles, container volumes are up 23% in the first quarter compared to the same period last year, he said.
Cordero said the twin ports of San Pedro Bay are seeing a return of cargo that was diverted to East and Gulf Coast ports last year during the prolonged contract negotiation between West Coast dockworkers and their employers. The talks concluded last summer with assistance from the White House after cargo disruptions started to escalate up and down the coast. The National Retail Federation boosted its forecast for US container imports through the summer and into early fall, pointing to a recent surge through ports on all three coasts.
“We haven’t seen numbers this high for this many months in almost two years,” said Jonathan Gold, NRF’s VP for supply chain and customs policy, in a statement Wednesday.
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That surge appears to be showing up in freight costs. The weekly spot rate to ship a 40-foot container from Shanghai to Los Angeles jumped 18.30% this week to $3,988.
