Long Beach Port's container throughput hit a record in April! Shanghai Port's container throughput recovered by 80%!

It is learned that the Port of Long Beach set an all-time record in April - handling 820,718 containers, an increase of 10% from the record set in April 2021.

In April, import container handling increased 9.2% year-over-year to 400,803 TEUs, while export container handling decreased 1.8% to 121,876 TEUs. Empty containers passing through the port increased 16.9% to 298,039 TEUs. Over the past four months, the Port of Long Beach has handled 3,281,377 TEUs, up 5.1% from the same period in 2021. Empty container traffic saw the largest increase, up 16.9% year-over-year to 298,039 TEUs. Below is a monthly view of TEUs cleared through U.S. Customs over an average of seven days:

The Ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles have again postponed the collection of "container detention fees" until May 20. Since the plan was announced on October 25, the accumulation of obsolete cargo at the two ports has dropped by a combined 50%.

As the world's largest container port and major transportation hub, Shanghai Port's container throughput in April recovered to 80% of the same period last year. The latest data from the Shanghai Shipping Exchange showed that the average berthing time in April was 1.07 days, basically the same as in March, better than the berthing time of ships in 11 major foreign ports including the United States.

Despite the need for strict epidemic prevention measures in Shanghai and surrounding areas, the average stay time at Shanghai Port was 2.12 days, down 34.0% year-on-year. Shanghai Port completed a container throughput of 3.09 million TEUs in April, up 82.4% year-on-year. Industry experts said that the port's container throughput continued to maintain a strong momentum in May.

“Container volumes continue to grow at a record pace and may not slow down anytime soon,” said Mario Cordero, executive director of the Port of Long Beach. As the Port of Shanghai gradually resumes operations, the Port of Long Beach is preparing for a potential surge in container volumes in the summer by extending terminal opening hours and improving cargo handling efficiency.

Trans-Pacific port throughput remains stable

Gene Seroka, executive director of the Port of Los Angeles, said trans-Pacific port volumes “have remained stable” despite China’s coronavirus lockdown.

The Port of San Pedro Bay, California, had its busiest April ever. The Port of Los Angeles also had its second-busiest month in history, with import container handling reaching 456,670 TEUs, down 6.8% year-over-year, and empty container volume falling 3.4% year-over-year to 330,810 TEUs. Export container handling reached 99,878 TEUs, down 12.7% from April 2021. A total of 887,357 TEUs were handled, with the highest record being 946,966 TEUs in the same period last year. In the first four months of 2022, the Port of Los Angeles handled more than 3.5 million TEUs of containers, 1% higher than the record pace of the same period last year. Below is a chart of container traffic from March to May 1, 2022:

On May 17, the Georgia Ports Authority reported that its container handling in April increased 6.2% year-on-year, making it the third busiest month in history. South Carolina ports have set cargo records for 14 consecutive months. April was also the second busiest month in history at the Port of Norfolk, Virginia. The Port of Houston reported that April was its busiest month ever, with container handling increasing 21% year-on-year to 334,493.

Maritime expert John McCown said: "In April, the inbound container volume of the top 10 ports in the United States increased by 7.1% to 2,189,744 TEUs, higher than the 3.5% increase in March, but lower than the 13.7% increase in February. The throughput of East Coast ports increased by 18.7% in April, while the throughput of West Coast ports decreased by 3.4%. This is the 11th consecutive month that the throughput of East Coast ports has exceeded that of West Coast ports. The following figure shows the throughput performance of the top 10 ports in the United States in April:

McCown said the strongest performing U.S. port in April was Charleston, South Carolina, with a 34% increase in throughput, followed by Houston, with a 26.5% increase, and New York/New Jersey, with a 22.4% increase in throughput, in third place.

Editor ✎Estella/

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