Record-Breaking December for Port of Long Beach

For the shipping industry, 2021 was the year where U.S supply chains buckled under unprecedented demand, worker and truck shortages, and a consumer shift that saw more of us buying material goods as we avoided travel and social outings during the Covid-19 pandemic.

For the Port of Long Beach it proved to be a record-breaking year, having reported that it moved more cargo in 2021 than any year in its 110-year history.

The West Coast port handled 9.38 million 20-foot equivalent units last year, almost 16% more than a year earlier, it revealed in an emailed statement.

Despite efforts by the port, and its neighbouring Los Angeles port, and the Biden administration, long delays continue at the ports, which handle about 40% of the U.S.’s inbound containers.  

During 2021, imports increased 14.6% year-over-year to 4,581,846 Twenty Equipment Units (TEUs*), while exports declined 2.6% to 1,437,916 TEUs. Empty containers moved through the port jumped 27.5% to 3,364,606 TEUs. 

“The strong economic momentum experienced through 2021 hit a speed bump by year’s end due to the rampant spread of the omicron variant of COVID-19,” the Port of Long Beach said in a press release announcing the record-setting year. 

While the port did not mention the historic San Pedro Bay congestion,, it did say it “collaborated with stakeholders at the local, state and federal levels to enhance cargo movements, including expanding hours of operation, creating temporary staging areas for full containers and encouraging truck drivers to drop off export containers when picking up an import.”

Executive Director Mario Cordero credited workers who kept goods moving and said the port was continuing to work on solutions to improve efficiency in the face of congestion and the increased imports. 

“I look forward to enhancing productivity in 2022 by advancing our move toward 24-7 terminal operations, deploying data-sharing technologies for our industry partners, and continuing our infrastructure improvements,” Cordero said in the statement.

As always, the TyTek team will keep you advised and appraised of your order with us. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact us.

Source: Freightwaves 

*TEU is an acronym used in logistics, which means ‘Twenty Equipment Unit’ or in other terms a ‘20-foot container