[ Port of Long Beach,Import & Exports Decline in July... ]

Cargo container volume at the Port of Long Beach fell to the equinal
ent of 347,963 20-foot-long container units in July, a 8.1 percent dec
rease from the same period a year ago. July 1998, however, was the bes
t month for all of last year. Long Beach remains the nation's busiest
container port.
"A shipping rate increase in May and the longshore union's negotiati
ons, which extended in July-have impacted our numbers and resulted in
some changes to our normal trade patterns,"said Don Wylie, Long Beach
's managing director of maritime services.
Traditionally, the port's peak months have been in the late summer o
r fall, when Christmas holidays cargoes are shipped. Last year, the pe
ak month was July. This year, May's total of 394,467 20-foot equivalen
t units(TEUs) was the highest ever.
In July, the number of imorted containers shipped through Long Beach
was 188,588 TEU, a decline of 5.3 percent. The number of exported con
tainers fell 8.3 percent to 74,156 TEUs. The number of empty container
s, most of them headed to Asia, dropped 13.6 percent to 85,220 TEUs.
In the first seven months of 1999, Long Beach's container trade rose
6.4 percent, led by a more than 10.4 percent gain in imports. Exports
slipped 1.6 percent.