United States

The shocking announcement that J. Christopher Lytle, executive director of the Port of Long Beach, will resign to become executive director at the Port of Oakland is a major loss for the nation’s second largest container port and a huge victory for the Northern California port,

Nearly everyone knows the United States imports a lot from China (and if you don’t, you’re probably not a regular reader of The Journal of Commerce), but American companies are increasingly exporting more to the Asian manufacturing juggernaut, too.

Oregon’s Port of Portland reported container traffic totaled 14,006 20-foot-equivalent units in April, dropping 30 percent year-over-year and 17 percent month-to-month.

Shanghai Containerized Freight Index spot rates for U.S.-bound trade lanes experienced moderate increases in the week of May 24, following general rate increases of $400 per 40-foot container moving from Asia to the U.S. West Coast and $600 per FEU from Asia to the U.S. East Coast implemented by USL and CMA CGM on May 21.