Port of Oakland’s monthly volume report reflects trade war tensions

While the Port of Oakland is widely recognized as the chief U.S. West Coast gateway for exports, volume is down 1.8 percent through six months of 2018.  Exports decreased 4.7 percent in June, which port spokesmen attribute to a strong U.S. dollar which makes American goods costlier overseas. 

That’s the bad news. But the good news is that inbound numbers continue to impress. 

Indeed, containerized import volume reached an all-time high last month, according to data recently released.  

Oakland handled the equivalent of 87,207 20-foot import containers in June.  That beat the previous monthly record of 84,835 containers set last July.

June import volume was up 8.7 percent over June 2017, with spokesmen saying that two factors may have led to the increase:

*Peak season – the summer-fall period when most U.S. imports from Asia are shipped – is expected to be strong.

*Importers may have ordered aggressively in June ahead of tariffs imposed last month by the U.S. and China.

“Retailers have been forecasting a good peak season for containerized imports, so June’s numbers weren’t surprising,” said Port of Oakland Maritime Director John Driscoll.  “But there’s uncertainty over the international trade picture, so we’re taking a wait-and-see approach.”

The port’s communication director, Mike Zampa, told LM that it’s too soon to project the impact of 2018 tariff increases on cargo from China.  The increases would have affected about $225 million of China imports had they been in place last year.

Zampa said that total container volume in Oakland is up 2.3 percent so far, this year.  That’s in line with a January Port forecast calling for 2-to-3 percent growth in 2018.

“Our monthly trade volume report has a twist this time,” he added. “Strong peak season expectations are running into trade war concerns.”