[ Long Beach Increased Container Cargo Volume in January ]

Imports and exports jumped in January at the Port of Long Beach, incre
asing total cargo container volume to the equivalent of 319,312 20-foo
t-long containers, a 10.8 percent gain over January 1998. The surge re
flects continued strength in the U.S. economy and possibly the beginni
ngs of a recovery in Asia.
There were mixed signals on exports to Asia. The number of outbound co
ntainers in January was 77,676 20-foot equivalent units(TEUs), a 7.3 p
ercent increase over January 1998’s exports. There were gains in ship
ments of raw cotton, wasterpaper and scrap metal. This was the port’s
first year-to-year improvement in exports since November 1997. Howeve
r, January’s exports were down 11.2 percent from December 1998’s exp
orts, ending three consecutive momths of month-to-month gains.
The number of inbound containers climbed in January to 169,397 TEUs, a
17 percent increase over January 1998. The jump in imports was fueled
in part by strong shipments of home furnishings, appliances, electron
ic equipment and shoes.