The Northwest Seaport Alliance (NWSA) — the partnership of the ports of Seattle and Tacoma — posted 252,232 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) for June, which is the highest container volume of the year at the NWSA.

The container gateway, one of the largest in the United States, reported that full imports last month increased 16.1% over May, while full exports increased nearly 5%.

 [Source: Port of Seattle]

"Ocean service schedule consistency has improved at the gateway, helping drive the month-over-month improvement," NWSA said.

It added that the total container volume for June, however, decreased 18.4% over June 2022. Full imports declined by 19.9%, while full exports for the month decreased by 13.8%.

"Year-over-year comparisons continue to reflect the pandemic-driven conditions of 2022 and ongoing soft import demand relative to last year," the partnership of the ports of Seattle and Tacoma said.

Total TEUs declined 22.8% year-to-date (YTD) to 1,394,347 TEUs, with full imports and exports declining 29% and 4.2%, respectively.

NWSA noted that domestic container volume decreased 4.5% YTD 2023 compared to YTD 2022.

Alaska volumes decreased by 2%, and Hawaii volumes declined by 14.7%.

Meanwhile, NWSA said Washington United Terminals (WUT) received two additional super post-Panamax cranes in June. These new ZPMC cranes boast a 24-wide container row reach, a lift above crane rail of 175 feet, and a lift capacity of 65 long tons using a spreader and 100 long tons with a cargo beam.

The cranes are expected to be operational later this summer following a commissioning period.

NWSA said this investment will further expand WUT's capability to handle the larger vessels being deployed in the transpacific trade.

For the month, the ports said breakbulk volume decreased 6.2% for 215,154 metric tons YTD.

"Because of high container freight rates and lack of availability on container vessels last year, some cargo shifted to Ro-Ro vessels. Now that container rates are cooling and service level has returned, cargo is transitioning back," the ports of Seattle and Tacoma added.

For the month, auto volumes were 160,569 units, up 129.3%.