Long Beach Imports and Exports Slow in March

Import rates at the nation’s busiest port in Long Beach flattened in March, marking the first time in roughly 30 months that growth in inbound cargo dropped below 3%, officials reported Thursday.

Hal Hilliard, marketing manager for the Port of Long Beach, attributed the sluggish growth to this year’s early Easter season. The holiday fell on the first Sunday in April, prompting importers to ship Easter merchandise in February rather than March, the traditional month for such shipments.

February saw a 30% increase in imports over a year ago, while March imports of nearly 172,000 20-foot cargo containers inched up just 2.5% over last year. A typical cargo ship can hold up to 6,000 20-foot containers.

Exports also flattened in March, posting just a 0.2% increase over outbound cargo rates last year. Hilliard said the high price for U.S. cotton on world markets chilled exports, which had risen by at least 3.5% in the two previous months. February and January marked the first time in over a year that exports had grown rather than fallen, a sign that Asia’s economic woes have begun to dissapate.

Meanwhile at the neighboring Port of Los Angeles, export levels fell by 10% in March while imports dropped by 6%.

Al Fierstine, the port’s director of business development, said the drop in inbound cargo was largely due to a scheduling snafu that caused two vessels due in March to arrive in early April instead.

The March import figures were in marked contrast to import levels during the first two months of the year, which posted increases of at least 13%.