The ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach posted gains in East Asia-related trade in the month of March, while ports in Oakland and the Northwest Seaport Alliance – consisting of the ports of Seattle and Tacoma – saw decreases, according to the Pacific Merchant Shipping Association’s latest West Coast Trade Report.
Combined, the five major West Coast gateways processed 56.9% of all containerized import tonnage coming to the U.S. from Asia in March, up slightly from 56.8% the previous year, according to the report.
“However, the Big Five’s combined share of the value of containerized imports from East Asia tumbled to 60.6% from 64.0% in March 2021,” the report stated.
Looking at containerized imports from Asia, Los Angeles/Long Beach saw a rise in tonnage from 45% in March 2021 to 46.3% in March 2022, PMSA data show. Meanwhile, Oakland saw its tonnage dip from 3.9% in March 2021 to 3.6% in March 2022 and NWSA saw it drop from 7.9% in March 2021 to 7% in March 2022, according to the report.
With containerized exports to Asia, Los Angeles/Long Beach and Oakland experienced some improvement in March. L.A./Long Beach saw it increase from 30.1% in March 2021 to 35.5% in March 2022 and Oakland saw an uptick from 8.9% in March 2021 to 9.4% in March 2022. However, NWSA saw it decline from 11.5% in March 2021 to 10.4% in March 2022, according to the report.
