The Port of Long Beach handled a total of 1.56 million TEUs in the first three months of 2016, a 6.1% year-on-year increase, according to statistics released by the port.

The quarterly performance was the port’s best since 2007.

“Overall, we are pleased with these results,” said Jon Slangerup, CEO of the Port of Long Beach. “The uneven global economy, industry financial pressures, weak US export demand and the introduction of mega-sized container vessels to West Coast ports have created dynamic conditions for the maritime industry that will continue to play out over the coming year. Nevertheless, our value proposition, being the fastest and most cost-effective supply route from Asia to America’s consumer markets, continues to define Long Beach and Southern California as the multimodal gateway of choice for our shipping customers.”

While the figures for January and February were both higher than in 2015, March 2016 saw volumes drop 26.2% year-on-year, which the port attributed to the Lunar New Year in 2016 and to the backlog recovery in early 2015.