Inflation is continuing to surge despite government efforts to curtail it. In fact, the Port of Los Angeles Executive Director Gene Seroka states the following, “While we’re all cost-minded and we feel it at the pump and at the grocery store, we’re going to continue to buy,” he predicted at a press conference Tuesday, pointing to Americans’ more than $2 trillion in savings and $1.2 trillion in revolving credit. Americans aren’t buying the same kind of goods they were at the height of the pandemic. But “retailers continue to replenish inventories … sales of finished goods remain strong, and parts and components going to American factories are equally as impressive. Peak season cargo is on the way.” He believes that the Los Angeles Port will see new arrivals at the beginning of next month.
Seroka reported no significant impact on the port’s import flows. He went on to state,
“The number of ships leaving Asia has been very steady” across the lockdown period, he said. This week, 47 container ships departed Asia bound for Los Angeles or Long Beach, according to data from the Marine Exchange of Southern California cited by Seroka. That’s up 27% from departures in the first week of January.
The month of May was the port’s third best month with 967,900 twenty-foot equivalent units which made it 21% higher than May in 2017-2021.
The Los Angeles Port experienced:
- 499,960 TEUs of imports, 20% higher than the prior five-year average.
- Exports Increased to 125,656 TEUs which was a 14% increase from the second highest which occurred in November of 2020.
- Empty containers came in at 342,285 TEUs.
Seroka stated, “Imports remain high coming from Asia to Los Angeles, and the need for [empty] containers to turn them around quickly in Asia is strong,”
The second half of the year will prove even more challenging for supply chains.
Southern California’s shipping queue has shortened with container vessels awaiting berths which is down from 109 in January.
The average of cargo moving every thirty days off the docks is 179,000 TEUs, down from over 200,000 TEUs. This puts the street dwell time at nine days when it is normally 3.5.
On dock rail, problems continue. At this point, there are 29,000 containers on the terminals that are awaiting rail. Out of that number 15,000 have been waiting for nine days or longer. Previously there would only be around 9,000 containers and they would not wait longer than nine days. Seroka stated about rail problems, “Right now it’s all about the rail. We’re working all out to catch up with this rail cargo.”
Another problem that might hit peak season hard is the contract talks that are occurring between the dockworker’s union and employers.
At this point, the future remains uncertain with the supply chain and the peak performance hitting the Los Angeles port.
For more information, contact Sobel Network Shipping Company.
