Shipping Statistics May Signal Upsurge in Exports to Asia

For the first time in seven months, loaded cargo containers outnumbered empty ones on ships leaving the Port of Los Angeles in February, in yet another sign that some of Asia’s troubled economies are on the mend, port officials said Wednesday.

“Some of the Asian economies are starting to recover, [South] Korea in particular,” said Al Fierstine, the port’s director of business development. “You’re seeing items starting to move that have to in order for them to manufacture certain products.”

But despite the positive data last month, the nation’s second-busiest port saw total export volume--which includes both loaded and empty containers--sink to its lowest point since July.

Roughly 60,550 containers left Los Angeles harbor last month loaded with exports such as wastepaper slated to be recycled into shipping boxes and resins used in the manufacture of plastics. Loaded containers outnumbered empties by about 170 units.

Both Los Angeles and its neighboring Port of Long Beach--the No. 1 U.S. port--had been beset with growing numbers of empty export containers last year as Asian economic tumult doused consumer and manufacturer demand for U.S. goods.

Now, however, officials have been seeing some breaks in the economic storm clouds. “The Asian economies are stronger versus what they were in 1998,” said Jim Paul, trade manager with the World Trade Center Assn. of Los Angeles and Long Beach. Paul said the trend is particularly good news for California, which saw trade with Asia fall more than 20% last year.

Yet according to some indicators, Asia’s economic problems are still far from over.

Export volume in February, was down 9% from a year ago, suggesting that the strong U.S. dollar is still keeping U.S. goods beyond the reach of many Asian consumers and manufacturers.

Fierstine said shipments of U.S. cotton, for example, have been stacking up at the port ever since the expiration in mid-December of a federal subsidy that paid cotton exporters nearly 13 cents per pound to ship the raw material.

Overall, port officials said, export volume hit a seven-month low.

February exports, however, were stronger than January’s, posting a 5% increase and marking the first upward swing in exports--the number of loaded containers leaving the port--in three months.

Meantime, the volume of goods coming into the port jumped 22% in February over a year ago. February also marked the second consecutive month of rising imports after inbound cargo volumes fell 12% in December following a surge in the fall as holiday retail merchandise jammed the docks.

Fierstine attributed the jump to both the strong U.S. economy and to importers who are looking to build up their inventories before steamship lines increase shipping costs by $450 for every 20-foot container moved. The hike is expected in May.

The Port of Long Beach is expected to release its February import/export figures next week.