June Port Traffic Fell on Both Coasts

Alternate headline: port traffic is down all around, and not expected to improve this year. Between the coronavirus and the trade war with China, ports have been on the receiving end of a one two punch this year. Business was down on both coasts in the first half of the year, according to reported data thus far. So far, there isn’t a lot of optimism about the second half of 2020 either.

Let’s start with the Port of LA, which is expecting traffic to fall by 15%. Last week, the port’s executive director Gene Seroka told reporters that the Port of Los Angeles expects to move 7.9 million TEUs in 2020 after processing 9.3 million TEUs in 2019. The port moved 691,475 containers in June, a record 9.6% year over year decline.

Meanwhile, the Port of Long Beach didn’t fare much better. Loaded imports fell by 9% yearly in June, while loaded exports declined by 12% during the same period. Total container volume fell from 677,167 TEUs in June 2019 to 602,180 TEUs in June of this year, an 11.1% decrease.

Smaller ports are not doing well either. Traffic at the Port of Oakland fell 2.3% annually in June. 199,011 containers moved through the port this June, compared to 203,730 in June of last year. TEUs fell by 16.4% annually at ports in Seattle and Tacoma.

It’s clear how a trade war with China, coupled with efforts to diversify one’s sourcing could impact west coast ports. But damage was not limited to that side of the country. Back east, traffic at the Port of Virginia was off by 12% in June, and down by 18.8% through the first five months of 2020. The ports in New York. New Jersey, Charleston, and Savannah have not reported their traffic numbers yet. 

A report from the National Retail Foundation forecasts that port traffic will peak in October, but it will be the smallest crest since 2014. The NRF expects 1.7 million TEUs to be processed, a 10.1% year over year contraction.