The Port of Long Beach has broken another record, this time having closed out the 2018 fiscal year with a total movement of 8,000,929 20-foot equivalent units (TEUs), the most ever, according to its officials this week.
The port’s fiscal year was from Oct. 1, 2017, to Sept. 30, 2018. The numbers represent a 10.7-percent increase from the previous fiscal year, officials wrote in a press release Oct. 9.
“We are poised to break our calendar-year record at the end of December,” Mario Cordero, executive director of the port, said. “Despite the tariffs imposed by Washington and Beijing, international trade is showing resilience. And, at our port, we are providing a conduit for commerce that’s efficient for our customers, and getting their cargo to destinations faster, saving them money.”
However, port officials in the press release also noted that September’s total volume was flat, with a slight decrease of 0.1 percent compared to September 2017. Imports decreased 2.5 percent to 357,301 TEUs compared to the previous year. Exports were down 3 percent to 121,561 TEUs, while empties increased 5.9 percent to 222,343 TEUs.
