For the second month in a row, the Port of Long Beach broke its own record for cargo volume in its 104-year history. In a clear sign that customers are confident in the Port, overall cargo volume grew by 22.8 percent in August compared to the same month last year.
Cargo volume, measured by the number of containers moving through the Port, reached 703,652 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs). The amount beats July’s cargo volume and marks two consecutive months of record-breaking volumes. A total of 1,393,896 TEUs moved through the Port of Long Beach in July and August.
“Our partners once again have expressed their confidence in the Port of Long Beach and we thank them for their business,” said Port of Long Beach CEO Jon Slangerup. “We have been working with all our stakeholders and the results are our best month ever.”
As consumer confidence grows, the dollar strengthens and retailers stock shelves, the Port of Long Beach’s strategic partnerships continue to yield positive results. Through the first eight months of 2015, Long Beach cargo numbers are growing faster than the overall economy and are up 5.4 percent compared to the first eight months of 2014.
“We thank our partners for choosing the Port of Long Beach,” said Slangerup. “We’re building the port of the future by investing $4 billion in improvements because as the economy grows, we will grow. We have not seen volume like this in our entire 104-year history and that is the clearest sign that consumers are buying.”
Not only did imports climb to 358,262 TEUs, or a 19.1 percent increase over last year, but exports grew 9.4 percent to 138,765 TEUs. Empty containers, meanwhile, rose 42.1 percent with 206,625 TEUs.