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Port of Long Beach on track to top 9 million cargo threshold this year, setting another record

The Port of Long Beach is about to cross the 9 million cargo container — capping what has been a remarkable year already with a second-consecutive record-breaking annual total.

The milestone comes as both the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles struggle under what has been a more-than-yearlong, unrelenting surge that has kept an armada of ships sitting at anchor outside the harbor and terminal docks overloaded with containers.

From January through November, 8.6 million twenty-foot equivalent Units — the industry’s standard measurement for cargo — moved through the Port of Long Beach, the trade hub announced on Thursday, Dec. 9. That already has surpassed the existing annual record of 8.1 TEUs set last year.

Together, both ports are expected to exceed 20 million TEUs for the 2021 calendar year.

The November Long Beach numbers were slightly down — by 4.9% — from November 2020, which was the port’s strongest November on record.

Last month saw 745,488 TEUs come through the Port of Long Beach.

November stats from the Port of Los Angeles will be released late next week.

Port of Long Beach Executive Director Mario Cordero said the port’s biggest challenge remains the push to clear cargo so products can get to store shelves for the holidays.

“Clearing the line of ships waiting to enter our port and moving containers off the docks are our top priorities,” he said in a written statement, “to ensure shelves are stocked and consumers can purchase gifts during the holiday season.”

The supply chain slowdown has dominated headlines and prompted state and federal efforts to look into how to move goods along more quickly, though there has been some progress of late.

“We are seeing notable improvements toward achieving that goal,” Cordero said, “as we continue to help our supply chain partners catch up and ensure goods are delivered as soon as possible.”

The 34 ships that were waiting to enter the twin port complex on Thursday was a stark contrast to the more than 80 ships in the queue at one point last month.

That decline is because of a new queuing process implemented in November.

The system was put together by the Pacific Maritime Association, the Pacific Merchant Shipping Association and the Marine Exchange of Southern California and staggers ships by using some spots as far as 150 miles off the coastline for queuing. Fewer ships, as a result, are crowded right off the coastline, which also is expected to improve safety and provide less pollution for local communities.

Ocean carriers also have proactively stepped up to move more aging cargo off the docks, avoiding the assessment of a punitive container dwell fee enacted by both ports on Oct. 25. The twin ports have delayed implementing the fee four times so far and it won’t go into effect until at least next week.

Finding more staging areas for containers, extending terminal hours and providing incentives for truckers to drop off export containers when picking up an import are other steps being taken by both ports.

The National Retail Federation , meanwhile, is forecasting holiday retail sales to be slightly below the pre-pandemic high reached in 2019.

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Source: Orange County Register

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