[ Long Beach Imports Slow in March While Exports C... ]

Long Beach Imports Slow in March While Exports Continue to Rebound

Exports jumped to their highest level in more than a year in March at
the Port of Long Beach, but early Easter and Chinese New Year holidays
resulted in the smallest gain in imports in more than three years. Th
e total number of cargo containers shipped through Long Beach climbed
to the equivalent of 347,974 20-foot-long containers in March, a 4.4 p
ercent increase over4 March 1998.
“Because Easter and Chinese New Year came early this year, we had a h
uge February but in the first weeks of March our imports fell off,”sa
id Hal Hilliard, the port’s marketing manager. With Easter coming in
the first week of April, many shippers imported products in February,
some before the Chinese New Year holiday in mid-February.
“Imports began to build up at the end of March,”said Hilliard, “Apr
il should be strong again.”
The number of inbound containers increased 2.5 percent in March to 171
, 913 TEUs, compared with March 1998. Imports, which included clothing
and shoes carmarked for Easter and spring sales, jumped 30.6 percent
in February over February 1998. For the first three months of the year
, imports are up 15.6 percent over the same period a year ago. The 2.5
percent increase in March was the weakest since a decline of 2.9 perc
ent in December 1995.
The number of outbound containers was 88,699 TEUs in March, a 0.2 perc
ent increase over March 1998 but a nearly 11 percent gain over this Fe
bruary. While virtually unchanged from a year ago, March’s export tot
al was the highest for the port since December 1997’s 91,139 TEUs- an
other sign that Asia’s economic slump may be ending. The leading expo
rts have been raw materials including wastepaper and scrap metal. “Ko
rea is starting to buy again and so is China,”said Hilliad. “All in
all, the first quarter was very good for us.”