By Jill McLaughlin. Media: The Epoch Times.
Imports at the Port of Los Angeles plummeted 28 percent in October as shippers continued to divert to other ports, prompting officials to scramble in their efforts to recoup lost business.
In all, the Port of Los Angeles processed one-quarter fewer imports, exports, and empty containers last month, compared to the year before. This was the lowest October volume since 2009, according to the portās Executive Director Gene Seroka.
The Port of Long Beach next door also reported a drop in importsālosing nearly 24 percent last month.
āContainer movement eased across the board,ā Seroka said during a press conference Nov. 15.
Los Angeles officials are struggling to meet with suppliers across the United States and in Asia to get cargo shipments to return to the port complex, Seroka said.
āWeāve got to get that cargo back,ā Seroka said. āWeāve been out there knocking on doors in the past several weeks.ā
Officials have traveled to Asia, Europe and throughout the United States on a āwhistlestop tour,ā Seroka said.
This year, the Los Angeles port processed just over 678,400 imported, exported, and empty containers. This was also 22 percent below the portās five-year average volume for the month, according to Seroka.
The port has moved 8.5 million containers in 2022, which is a 6-percent decline from 2021, Seroka reported.
Aside from the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, the ports of New York and New Jersey also saw imports decline in October, according to Descartes, a logistics reporting firm. The Port of Savannah had the greatest volume increase.
U.S. container imports from China declined 5.5 percent overall compared to September and nearly 23 percent lower than August.
Container volume from China declined by 48 percent in Los Angeles compared to last October, and nearly 32 percent in Los Beachārepresenting the biggest decrease at ports nationwide, Descartes reported.
The steep drop in overall volume at the Los Angeles port was mostly ādue to protracted labor negotiations,ā Seroka said. Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti agreed, adding at the press conference that everyone thought labor negotiations would be settled by Labor Day.