Los Angeles port container volumes soar in August on import demand

Houston — The Port of Los Angeles posted a record high container volume in August as strong US demand for consumer goods sharply increased shipping rates.

Total throughput at the port in August was 961,833 twenty-foot equivalent units, or TEUs, up by 12% from the same month last year, the port announced on Sept. 15.

It was the first instance this year of monthly volumes at the Port of Los Angeles outperforming the corresponding month from 2019, although the January-August total was down 7% from last year after the coronavirus pandemic severely hampered trade in the first and second quarters.

Port of Los Angeles executive director Gene Seroka revised the forecast for 2020 total container volumes higher to 8.5 million TEUs from 7.9 million TEUs previously, but also warned that the rapid growth of imports over exports was not sustainable.

"One month or one quarter does not make a trend," Seroka said in a press briefing on Sept. 15. "The trade imbalance has deepened while our economy remains in a precarious position."

Loaded container imports in August were 516,286 TEUs, up by 18% from the same month a year ago, while loaded exports fell by 10% over the same period. The port handled 314,118 TEUs of empty containers last month.

US consumers were heard spending much more on goods than services while communities are in a lockdown to combat the spread of the virus, which has translated into more containerized imports from Asia.

"The biggest challenge we are facing is an equipment shortage," a North Asian shipowner said. "We have already adopted a strategy to reposition our containers back in Asia as fast as possible because a few hundred dollars you can make from a US export cargo is a lot less than the thousands that shippers in Asia will pay."

Platts Container Rate 13 -- North Asia to West Coast North America -- has more than doubled since May and was last assessed at $3,800/FEU, the highest level since at least 2017.