Seattle Box Volume Dips 5.7 Percent

SEATTLE -- The Port of Seattle's container volume in January declined 5.7 percent to 128,837 TEUs from the same month last year, but that was a big comeback from its December performance, when box traffic fell by more than 27 percent.

Between December and January, Seattle's container volume jumped nearly 15 percent, driven mainly by a big increase in outbound moves of empty containers.

That bright spot was mitigated somewhat by continuing double-digit declines in full import and export containers for the month. Full inbound containers declined 11.1 percent to 49,560 TEUs, and full outbound boxes fell 25.7 percent to 29,009 TEUs, reflecting the continuing decline in trans-Pacific trade.