The Port of Los Angeles finished 2012 with a 1.7 per cent increase in overall cargo volumes compared with 2011.
The total number of twenty-foot equivalent (TEU) containers for 2012 was just over 8m, compared to 7,9m TEUs in 2011 – the third time in the port's history it topped 8m TEUs, the last time coming in 2007.
The year ended with soft December volumes, however, decreasing 9.4 per cent from 649,468 TEUs in December 2011 to 588,154 TEUs.
December imports fell 6.7 per cent to 296,874 TEUs compared to 318,355 TEUs the previous year, while exports declined 16.4 per cent to 147,417 TEUs.
Combined, total loaded imports and exports for the month decreased 10.2 per cent, from 494,886 TEUs to 444,291 TEUs.
