An article in the Los Angeles Times today explains that figures continue to fall at the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, and while moderate growth is expected over the next few years, it will be a long time before we see numbers similar to those that set records in 2006. The information is based on an industry-wide report that is not yet available to the public.
In it, according to Times writer Ronald D. White, experts project slow economic recovery that will be “painful,” as jobs continue to plummet and the Port of Long Beach posted a traffic decline of 18.6% in July (compared to July of last year). In 2009, the Port’s overall decline has reached a whopping 26.8%.
Says White:
The recovery will be so slow and painful that a return to the pace set during the economic boom year of 2006 — when the ports handled 15.8 million cargo containers bound for most parts of the U.S. — won’t come before 2013.
That’s bad news for an industry that’s searching for any – and I mean any – good news at all. There had been signs in late Spring that traffic was declining at a slower rate, signaling to some that the tide would soon turn. July’s poor statistics put an end to those thoughts, however, and White points out a few more factors that should worry both ports in the near future.
The report said that a larger number of freight shippers will prefer to move more cargo via a wider Panama Canal channel that is expected to open in 2014, bypassing the Southern California ports’ rail connection for moving freight to other parts of the U.S.
Also, retailers will be increasingly willing to divert their goods to other trade gateways should congestion develop in the L.A. and Long Beach ports, the report said. In addition, any resumption of growth in Latin American and European trade favors East Coast and Gulf Coast ports.