Port of Seattle Imports Up 93.3 Percent

Containerized imports at the Port of Seattle exploded last month, increasing 93.3 percent compared to June of 2009.

The 88,763 TEUs recorded in June were the highest tally for imports so far this year, and were far higher than any monthly total recorded in 2009.

Contributing to the unusually large increase was a new service by CMA CGM and Maersk Line that was introduced last summer. More recently, the carriers increased the size of the vessels in that service to 6,500 TEUs from 5,100 TEUs previously.

The new service accounts for more than half of the increased volume, said Peter McGraw, seaport and real estate media officer in Seattle. The remaining growth was due to seasonal factors, primarily back-to-school and early Christmas season shipments.

Seattle’s increase without the Maersk/CMA CGM service would have been 26 percent, McGraw said.

Imports are increasing strongly at the Puget Sound ports. Tacoma recorded a 21 percent increase in imports in June.

--Contact Bill Mongelluzzo at bmongelluzzo@joc.com.