Port of Long Beach forecasts growth

At the 12th annual “Pulse of the Ports Peak Season Forecast,” panelists stated that cargo growth should continue through 2016 even though uncertainty remains as the economy and industry continue to evolve.

One of the panelists, Senior Economist Mario Moreno, IHS Maritime & Trade, stated that containerized imports from Asia will grow at about 5.5 percent in 2016. He also stated that the overall U.S. economy would grow by about 2.3 percent.

Each spring, the Port of Long Beach brings supply chain industry leaders together to discuss their forecasts for the year ahead. The event helps to provide fellow industry members with the information they need to plan.

At this week’s event, seven speakers from all segments of the supply chain offered their thoughts on megaships, congestion, cargo volumes and the future of the transportation industry.

“The uneven global economy, strong U.S. dollar, opening of the Panama Canal and the introduction of megasized container vessels to U.S. ports has created dynamic conditions for the maritime industry that will continue to play out over the next two years,” said Jon Slangerup, Port of Long Beach CEO.

This observation echoed others made by industry analysts recently.

Datamyne (http://www.datamyne.com), a leading provider of web-based international market intelligence, finds that U.S. import volumes, measured in twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs), have rebounded at West Coast ports so far this year. Imports through the port of Los Angeles increased 36% January through February of 2016 and 30% through the port of Long Beach, compared with the same time period in 2015.

The port of Oakland also had a notable 52% increase in import TEUs compared with January and February of 2015.

East and Gulf Coast ports did not see the same sweeping growth. Compared to January through February of last year, the port of New York/Newark increased in import volume by 5%, Norfolk, VA was up 17% and Houston declined 4%.

The port of Savannah, which looked to have prospered from the western slowdowns last year, has continued to grow by 9 percent so far this year.