Import container volume increased dramatically! In 2021, the nine major US ports handled a total of 50.5 million TEUs!

It is learned that according to data collected by MarketWatch, in 2021, the nine major ports in the United States (Los Angeles, Long Beach, New York and New Jersey, Georgia, Houston, Northwest Seaport Alliance, South Carolina, Oakland, and Virginia) handled a total of 50.5 million TEUs (20-foot containers), a year-on-year increase of 16%.

It is reported that import container volumes at nine major ports in 2021 increased by more than 17% compared with 2020 and 20% compared with 2019.

According to MarketWatch data, import volumes at the nine major ports increased sharply in the first eight months of 2021, and began to decline in September, but still maintained a growth trend.

In addition, the number of empty containers at the nine major ports soared in 2021, leading to increased congestion at the terminals. According to statistics, the nine major ports had a total of 14.6 million empty containers, far higher than 105,000 in 2020 and 104,000 in 2019.

It is learned that in San Pedro Bay, where the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach are located, containers stay at the docks for a very long time. In December, the average stay time per container was as high as 7.8 days, which is longer than before the epidemic (5 days).

Steve Wen, CEO of freight management platform Dray Alliance, said that although the US government has taken some measures to ease port congestion, such as temporarily stopping port operations, most of them are short-term solutions, and ports will continue to be congested in the future, and may not be relieved until 2023.

Editor ✎ Nicole/

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