Long Beach Port Breaks Record with 4.4 Million Container

According to the Long Beach, it broke its record for yearly container
cargo volume-handling 4,408,480 TEUs in 1999, an 7.6 percent increase
over 1998’s 4,097,689 TEUs, with another strong month of imports in D
ecember.
Wilma D. Powell, the port’s director of trades and maritime services,
said that the totals reflect a remarkable period of growth for the U.
S. economy and the Port of Long Beach. The U.S economy remain strong,
and so is the American consumer’s appetite for imports. “We are proj
ecting strong imports at least through the spring. We also see slow, b
ut steady gains this year for exports.”, she added.
In December, the port moved 365,240 TEUs, an 8.5 percent increase over
the same month a year ago. The gains were led by an 11.4 percent jump
in imports, which totaled 185,572 TEUs. The growth in exports slowed,
however, slipping 0.9 percent to 86,697 TEUs. For the year, imports a
lso paced the port’s gains, increasingly by 10.5 percent - the fourth
consecutive year double-digit import increase.
Long Beach is the leading gateway for imports from Asia, including suc
h consumer goods as clothing, shoes, home furnishings and consumer ele
ctronics. Exports rebounded slightly, increasing by 1.6 percent. With
much of Asia still recovering from their recent economic crisis, the g
ains in exports were led by such raw materials as waste paper, recycle
d metal, plastics and chemicals.