Port of Los Angeles Posts Biggest June Ever

Imports into the Port of Los Angeles jumped 32% during the month of June compared to the same time period one year ago registering 371,888.60 TEU’s. This represented a 32.26% increase over June of 2009. Export container were also strong with a 12.64% increase over the prior year.

Other highlights mentioned on the Port of Los Angeles website:

Comments for June 2010:

* Strengthening of the overall trade environment.
* Imports were up 32%, Exports were up 12%, empty containers were up 53%, overall up by 32% for month of June, YTD up 15%
* Vessel services were upsized to handle the surge of volume
* Carriers are bringing back peak season services – six more vessel arrivals over June 2009
* Vessels are arriving close to full capacity
* Large amount of empty container returns to Asia as a result of higher import volumes and to replenish the shortage of empty equipment in Asia

The Port of Long Beach also had a great month as imports increased 27% in June to 262,053 containers.

From what I have been reading, many experts don’t foresee this type of growth as sustainable over the remainder of the year citing lackluster job growth and a stagnant economy.

June Containerized Import Data Update – Zepol.com

On July 6th, we completed the data for June in our U.S. Customs trade data tool, TradeIQ. June marks the fifth month in a row in which import shipments increased, rising 10.41% over May. June 2010 shipments also rose significantly over the previous year, up 23.21% over June 2009.

Below is a table showing port regions of the world where shipments originated:

Port Region	June 2010 Shipments	Percent Change over May 2010	Percent Change over June 2009
Asia	620,999	10.99%	31.31%
Europe	124,319	13.23%	13.14%
Central America (includes Mexico)	60,918	3.88%	3.04%
South America	22,885	3.33%	8.14%
North America	9,468	-0.42%	-29.81%
Unknown	8,921	8.65%	-7.94%
Australia	8,108	18.05%	-1.77%
Africa	3,758	3.87%	25.14%
Totals	859,376	10.41%	23.21%

In our U.S. Customs Update for May, we discussed how though Asian trade is growing relative to recent months, the region’s shipments have yet to return to pre-recession levels. Now that we have the June data needed to complete Quarter 2, we can see that with 1,698,411 shipments, Quarter 2 of 2010 is up 3.33% over the same quarter in 2008, suggesting that Asian trade is closer to pre-recession levels. Quarter 3 data will be even more telling, as this quarter is historically the biggest in terms of shipments to the United States from Asia.


Below is a chart of Asia’s quarterly shipments, starting with Quarter 3 of 2007:

The collection methods used by U.S. Customs for AMS data can lead to an overstatement of shipments for some ports, as imports and exports from Prince Rupert and Vancouver are often recorded as imports for the U.S. Moreover, the data includes shipments from empty containers, may overstate totals from transshipments, and may contain other data anomalies as well.

Zepol’s U.S. Customs trade data is derived from Bills of Lading entered into the Automated Manifest System. This information represents the number of House manifests entered by importers of waterborne containerized goods. This indicator is the earliest data available for the previous month’s trade activity.

Kevin Palmstein is the Director of Marketing and Product Development for Zepol Corporation. Zepol is the leading provider of United States trade information. Zepol’s products, TradeIQ™ and TradeView™, provide access to the latest U.S. Import Customs trade data and U.S. Import/Export Census trade statistics respectively. To learn more about Zepol, visit www.zepol.com and read their trade data blog, www.zepol.com/blog.