Long Beach’s container trade rebounds in March

Bouncing back from a decline in February, shipping terminals at the Port of Long Beach moved the equivalent of 360,279 twenty-foot-long container units in March, based on preliminary figures. The total is a 2.7 percent increase from March 2000, and a 15.6 percent increase over this February's total.

"The recovery in March suggests that the low numbers in February were due more to the Chinese New Year than to a softening of the U.S. economy," said Don Wylie, the port's managing director of maritime services. "The imports and exports in March were our strongest since November."

There had been concern that a sharp drop in imports in February might have reflected a downturn in consumer demand. Long Beach is the leading U.S. gateway for trade with Asia. Far East nations are leading producers of such consumer products as clothing, toys, shoes and household goods.


In March, the number of imported cargo containers climbed to 195,605 twenty-foot equipment units (TEUs), a 9.6 percent increase from March 2000 and a 26 percent improvement from this February. While questions remain about the strength of the U.S. economy, it now seems that the decline in February imports was due at least in part to the Chinese New Year at the end of January, when a holiday shutdown in China reduced shipments into early February.


The number of exported containers fell to 84,349 TEUs, a decline of 13.8 percent from March 2000 but an 11.7 percent increase over this February's exports. While the level of export is lower than a year ago, the March export total ended a three-month slide in which exports had declined from the previous month. Exports shipped through Long Beach include raw materials such as plastics, chemicals, recycled paper and cotton.