Port of Los Angeles US

The Port of Los Angeles has released its February 2014 cargo volumes, revealing that overall volumes decreased 8.9 per cent compared with the same month last year.

According to the port, the decrease was due in part to the Chinese New Year, which closed many factories in Asia for two to three weeks in February. Last year, the holiday had a negative impact on March container volumes.

Container imports decreased 10.6 per cent, from 318,547 TEUs last year to 284,812 TEUs. Exports dropped 6.2 per cent, from 156,690 TEUs to 146,925 TEUs in February 2014.

Combined, total loaded imports and exports for February decreased 9.1 per cent, from 475,237 TEUs to 431,738 TEUs. Factoring in empties, which decreased 8.3 per cent year over year, overall February 2014 volumes (559,786 TEUs) fell 8.9 per cent.