Long Beach Container Traffic Plunges 20 Percent

Container volume at the Port of Long Beach plunged 20.5 percent in October, reflecting the loss of services by several niche carriers in the U.S.-China trade lane.

Containerized imports plummeted 20.8 percent, exports were down 21.4 percent and empty containers fell 19.3 percent from October 2010. The past year has been a difficult one for carriers in the trans-Pacific =as severe overcapacity and weak demand resulted in a steady decline in freight rates.

The erosion of freight rates was especially difficult for niche carriers that operate small 3,000-TEU vessels, as their per-unit costs are higher than the larger carriers. Many of the larger carriers operate vessels of 8,000-TEU capacity or greater.

Earlier this year, The Containership Co. went out of business. Niche carriers CSAV, Matson Navigation Co., Horizon Lines and Grand China Shipping each pulled a string of ships from the trans-Pacific, and those carriers were all calling in Long Beach.

The Port of Los Angeles, which didn’t have any niche carriers, reported a 5.5 percent year-over-year increase in containerized imports in October. The port saw a 28.1 percent increase in exports and an overall increase of 4.4 percent when empty containers returning to Asia were included.

As a port complex, Los Angeles-Long Beach in October experienced a 7 percent drop in imports, reflecting the weak peak shipping season this year in the trans-Pacific. Exports in the port complex increased 4 percent over October 2010 as U.S. exports continue to show strength.

-- Contact Bill Mongelluzzo at bmongelluzzo@joc.com. Follow him on Twitter @billmongelluzzo.