U.S. second-largest port sees weak container traffic

According to foreign media reports, the head of the second-largest port in the United States expects that the surge in consumer demand brought about by the pandemic will begin to cool, and the volume of container traffic entering the port has begun to show signs of fatigue.

Data shows that the number of containers arriving at the Port of Long Beach has now fallen for two consecutive months. Meanwhile, the neighboring Port of Los Angeles has also seen its largest drop in cargo volume since the early days of the COVID-19 outbreak.

It is reported that the two ports together can handle about 40% of container cargo from the Asian market.

“The economy has started to cool and we expect that consumer demand will continue to decline going forward,” Mario Cordero, executive director of the Port of Long Beach, said in an interview with Bloomberg Television on Monday.

The latest data showed that U.S. consumer spending and retail sales growth both slowed, a sign that the worst inflation in nearly 40 years is beginning to take its toll on the economy.

Ports had been overwhelmed by an influx of cargo a few months ago, causing supply chain issues and delivery delays, but that is easing due to improved logistics and lower demand caused by rising interest rates.

Cordero and other U.S. port executives believe that the July cargo surge was actually earlier than in previous years because retailers were trying to stock up to avoid the holiday season due to logistics and supply chain reasons. Although demand is reduced now, the full-year data should still be good.

The Port of Long Beach is one of 29 ports on the West Coast of the United States currently awaiting the results of labor negotiations between the union representing 22,000 dockworkers and the Pacific Maritime Association, which represents more than 70 employers.

It is understood the employees have been working without contracts since their previous agreement expired on July 1 this year .

Both sides say they want to avoid a repeat of the 2014 negotiations, which led to nine months of disruption and shipping delays in the United States until the Obama administration intervened.

Long Beach Mayor Robert Garcia also said in an interview with Bloomberg TV that he was "optimistic" that the ongoing labor negotiations would not lead to a major work stoppage.

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