Imports, exports fall at Los Angeles-Long Beach port complex

Cargo volumes through the nation’s busiest seaport complex were flat in May compared with the same month a year earlier, but international trade experts said that trade numbers should improve in June.

Import cargo through the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, which rank first and second in the U.S., respectively, dropped 2.4% in May to 620,659 containers compared with May 2011. Exports were down 0.08% to 314,190 containers. Empty containers headed back to Asian manufacturing centers were up, but not enough to shove the numbers into positive territory.

Overall traffic through both ports last month was down 0.03% at 1.23 million cargo containers. Through the first five months of the year, the totals for both ports combined were little changed, up 0.7% to 5.58 million containers. They were the kind of numbers that were leaving even the experts somewhat flummoxed about the strength and course of the economy.

“Consumer demand for durables has been weak for quite some time and dropped further in May,” said Ben Hackett, founder of Hackett Associates, which tracks cargo through the nation’s busiest ports for the National Retail Federation. “Yet at the same time consumer confidence is at its highest level since 2007. Confused? So is the average consumer.”

Cargo volumes through the two ports are an important indicator of the strength of regional, national and international economies. Los Angeles and Long Beach usually handle more than 40% of the nation’s Asian imports, and they export more U.S. goods than any other seaport. More than half the state’s 1.1 million international trade jobs are connected to the two ports.

Looking at the nation’s seaports as a whole, May import cargo volume of 1.6 million containers was up 3.5% compared with a year earlier, according to Zepol Corp., a Minnesota company that tracks international trade data. That meant the Los Angeles and Long Beach ports had a 38.8% share of U.S. import cargo in May.

Individually, the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach continued to have very different years.

The Port of Los Angeles had its busiest May ever. Imports were up 2.7% to 370,722 containers. Exports rose 0.5% to 185,107 containers. Counting empties, the port’s cargo volume in May was 731,353 containers, up 5.5%.

“It was another strong month for us,” Los Angeles port spokesman Phillip Sanfield said. Port officials hope that a surge in empty containers through the port means that more imports will be on the way in the coming months, he said.

The Port of Long Beach saw cargo traffic drop 7.2% in May to 497,892 containers as import and export volumes fell. Through the first five months of the year, Long Beach cargo fell 6.1% to 2.27 million containers. Port spokesman Daniel Yi said that the decreased volumes were partly due to the loss of business from several niche cargo services that used the port last year.

ron.white@latimes.com