Tacoma`s container volumes continue double-digit growth

Container volumes through the Port of Tacoma are up 35% to 617,076 TEU year-to-date through April.Full containerized imports and exports posted double-digit growth. Imports improved 48% year-to-date to 226,676 TEU, while exports grew 40% to 177,185 TEU.

Container volumes continue to reflect the addition of the Grand Alliance and its associated carriers last July, as well as other ocean carriers gaining new customers and rotating larger vessels into services calling Tacoma. Domestic volumes to and from Alaska and Hawaii improved 6% on the year.

Year-to-date volume declines continued in grain and breakbulk cargo, which are items too big or bulky to fit in a container.

Breakbulk decreased 23% to 64,774 short tons and it is anticipated that 2013 volumes will lag significantly behind last year's record-breaking 260,000 short tons. Grain volumes were down 39%.

Last year's drought in the U.S. Midwest appears to have shifted global sourcing from North America to South America. < 최성훈 기자 shchoi@ksg.co.kr >