The Port of Los Angeles reported continued increase in volumes for October despite ongoing congestion woes at one of North America's busiest cargo ports.
In a statement, Port of LA said it processed 902,644 Twenty-Foot Equivalent Units (TEUs) last month, a decrease of 8% compared to last year, which was the busiest October on record.
Year to date, however, overall cargo volume has increased 22% compared to 2020.
“Amid the array of challenges facing the supply chain, we continue to deliver more cargo than ever,” said Port of Los Angeles executive director Gene Seroka, noting that the National Retail Federation is forecasting a record holiday season as many outlets such as Walmart, Target and Home Depot report strong sales.
Improvement in congestion
“In recent weeks, clearing our docks of imports and empties has been a top priority,” Seroka added. “As a result, we’ve seen a marked improvement of fluidity on our marine terminals, which allows more vessels to be processed."
Seroka noted that since October 24, there’s been a 31% drop – from 94,981 to 65,080 – in the number of import containers on Port of Los Angeles marine terminals.
Import containers dwelling nine days or more has declined 35%, from 37,410 to 24,361, he added.
Meanwhile, October loaded imports reached 467,287 TEUs, an 8% decline compared to the previous year and loaded exports dropped 32% to 98,251 TEUs compared to 2020.
Port of LA also reported that empty containers increased to 337,106 TEUs, an increase of 2% compared to last year.
Ten months into 2021, the Port has processed 9,079,562 TEUs, 22% more than the 7,444,464 TEUs handled at this time last year.