Portland boxes off 28 Percent

A harsh January at the Port of Portland saw container volume fall about 28 percent to 15,961 TEUs from a year earlier.

That total featured big drops in import and export boxes moving through the Columbia River port. Inbound containers declined 32.6 percent to 6,677 TEUs and outbound boxes decreased 23.8 percent to 9,284 TEUs.

The decline came amid a big drop-off in the number of calls by oceangoing vessels, off 24 percent to 54 in January.

Breakbulk shipments increased 6.2 percent to 47,515 tons, but grain plunged 29.1 percent to 356,339 tons. Automobiles plummeted 39.5 percent to 27,335 units and mineral bulk decreased 12.6 percent to 374,540 tons.