Container trade slows in February

Amid an uncertain economic environment, container cargo volumes declined in February at the Port of Long Beach to the equivalent of 311,712 twenty-foot-long container units - a decrease of 7 percent from February 2000.

Containers filled with imports fell to 155,148 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs), a decline of 12.5 percent from a year ago. This February's import total is the lowest one-month total at the port since February 1998. The port's leading imports are consumer goods such as clothing, shoes, toys and household merchandise made in Asia.

Exports decreased to 75,520 TEUs, a decline of 7.8 percent from February 2000. Exports have fallen in each of the last four months when compared to the same month a year ago. Export containers also have declined for three straight months when compared with the prior month.

The port's leading exports are raw materials such as plastics, cotton and recycled paper used in Asia to produce the goods sent to the United States.

"While we caution against using one month's statistics to predict any economic trends, the weakness in trade does seem to reflect concerns about the slowing national economy," said Don Wylie, the port's managing director of maritime services.

Another factor in the weaker totals may be that the Chinese New Year was in late January this year. Many businesses in China, Hong Kong and Taiwan close for a week in observance of the holiday, which typically results in lighter-than-usual shipments between those countries and Long Beach.


Port of Long Beach

Container Traffic (TEUs*)
LOADED Total Total Total
inbound outbound Loaded Empties Containers
Feb-01 155,148 75,520 230,668 81,044 311,712
Feb-00 177,362 81,893 259,255 75,961 335,216
% change -12.5% -7.8% -11.0% 6.7% -7.0%

Oct-00 235,511 88,541 324,052 108,880 432,932
Nov-00 213,065 90,756 303,821 107,076 410,897
Dec-00 180,631 79,351 259,982 91,408 351,390
Jan-01 194,746 77,073 271,819 82,622 354,441
Feb-01 155,148 75,520 230,668 81,044 311,712
Sep-'00-Jan '01 979,101 411,241 1,390,342 471,030 1,861,372
Sep-'99-Jan '00 955,292 424,231 1,379,523 453,797 1,833,320
% change 2.5% -3.1% 0.8% 3.8% 1.5%

*TEUs: 20-foot equivalent units or 20-foot-long cargo container