Seaport Alliance reports container volume up over 2014

Grain exports down, automobiles up. Logs down, gypsum up by a lot. That’s for cargo volume in October, year-to-date, when compared with the same period in 2014. Petroleum down, molasses down.

But the Northwest Seaport Alliance comprising the ports of Tacoma and Seattle announced this week that container volumes surpassed the 3 million mark in October, a 5 percent increase year to date.

Containerized international exports fueled the growth, posting an 8.9 percent gain over October 2014, year-to-date. Through the first 10 months of the year, international imports rose 4.3 percent to 1,208,091 TEUs, and exports grew 8.9 percent to 1,102,194 TEUs. (A TEU, or 20-foot equivalent unit, is a standard measure describing a typical shipping container.) Import volumes declined slightly in October, compared with October 2014, at 0.9 percent — signaling the end of the peak shipping season when retailers increase inventories ahead of the holiday shopping season.

Domestic volumes to Alaska and Hawaii remained flat, up 1 percent to 748,769 TEUs.

Auto imports also continued to post gains in October — up 6.5 percent year-to-date to 154,291 units — as the 2016 models begin to arrive. Meanwhile, year-to-date breakbulk cargo volumes and grain, log, petroleum, and molasses exports continue to be impacted by a weaker export market.

The alliance is an operational partnership between the Ports of Seattle and Tacoma.

This story was originally published November 19, 2015 at 3:18 PM with the headline "Seaport Alliance reports container volume up over 2014."