Inbound container handling at mainland U.S. ports climbed by 5.8% on a year earlier in October, Panjiva data shows. That marked the eighth straight month of expansion, resulting in particular in shipment growth from the newer manufacturing hubs in Asia including Vietnam and Thailand as outlined in Panjiva research of November 8.
Growth was broad-based, with the only significant losers being Seattle/Tacoma (where volumes fell 10.2%) and Los Angeles (which saw a 6.0% decline). Los Angeles decline can be partly explained by a strong baseline – the 2016 figure included handling taken over from Long Beach as the latter suffered from the demise of Hanjin Shipping in late August. The combined LA/Long Beach complex modestly underperformed the national average with a 4.0% rise.
Among the smaller ports New Orleans may have started something of a rebound, with a 40.7% jump vs. a year earlier in October against the backdrop of a 2.3% slide in the past year. Jacksonville meanwhile was the fastest growing of the top 20 ports, with import growth of 37.2% bringing the annual total to 14.5%. It has been a beneficiary both of Asian traffic growth, including as a result of the expansion of the Panama Canal, as well as increased automotive industry imports.
Source: Panjiva
Among the top five complexes Savannah saw the fastest growth, at 11.5%, to reach a new record for imports while South Houston continued its post-hurricane recovery with a 10.1% growth on a year earlier. Notably New York grew by just 5.5% vs. 13.3% a month earlier, suggesting the increased vessel-size access it has had since the summer still isn’t generating sustained volume growth.
Source: Panjiva