Containerised cargo volume declined at the Port of Oakland in January, the result of spreading supply chain congestion. The Port said that import volume dropped 11.9 percent in January compared to the same period January 2020. Exports were down 11.3 percent.
The Port labelled declining cargo an anomaly at a time when U.S. importers face increasing consumer demand. It expects container volume to increase in coming months as vessel logjams ease.
“There’s a lot of cargo trapped on ships just waiting to get to here after departing Southern California,” said Port of Oakland Maritime Director Bryan Brandes. “Our concern is getting shipments to our customers as quickly as we can.”
U.S. containerised import volume from Asia is expected to remain strong at least through June. That puts pressure on ports in Los Angeles and Long Beach, where ships stop first before visiting Oakland.
Congestion in Southern California is causing delays of up to a week for Oakland vessel arrivals. As a result, ships reach the Port off-schedule and sometimes miss berthing appointments.
French shipping line CMA CGM remedied the problem this month by introducing a first-call service in Oakland. The ships in CMA’s weekly service make Oakland their first U.S call, bypassing Southern California. The Port said other ocean carriers are contemplating Oakland first-calls by mid-year.
Though Oakland imports and exports declined by double digits in January, overall container volume was off just 5.8 percent. That’s because the Port had a 15.6 percent increase in the shipment of empty containers. Empties are in high demand at Asian ports where they’re needed to transport U.S. import cargo.
The post Port of Oakland container volume down in January appeared first on Global Cargo Insight.
Photo by Guillaume Merle on Unsplash
