Port Briefs: Trade Slows at POLA/POLB, POLA Signs Agreements with Tokyo and Yokohama Ports and New Port Tenant Services Director

Port of Los Angeles Moves 487,846 Container Units in February as Global Trade Slows

SAN PEDRO — The Port of Los Angeles processed 487,846 Twenty-Foot Equivalent Units (TEUs) in February, a 43% decrease from the previous February’s all-time record. 

“February declines were exacerbated by an overall slowdown in global trade, extended Lunar New Year holiday closures in Asia, overstocked warehouses and a shift away from West Coast ports,” said Port of Los Angeles Executive Director Gene Seroka. “While we expect more cargo moving crossing our docks in March, volume will likely remain lighter than average in the first half of 2023.

“We’re using this volume lull to focus on new data and infrastructure initiatives to improve efficiency in preparation for increased throughput,” Seroka added.

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February 2023 loaded imports reached 249,407 TEUs, down 41% compared to the previous year. Loaded exports came in at 82,404 TEUs, a decline of 14% compared to last year. Empty containers landed at 156,035 TEUs, a 54% year-over-year decline.

Two months into 2023, total container volume is at 1,213,860 TEUs compared to 1,723,360 TEUs in 2022, a 30% decline.

LONG BEACH — In Long Beach, cargo moving through the Port of Long Beach slowed in February, also due to full warehouses, reduced consumer spending and the closure of east Asian factories during the Lunar New Year holiday.

Dockworkers and terminal operators moved 543,675 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) last month, down 31.7% from February 2022, which was the port’s busiest February on record. Imports declined 34.7% to 254,970 TEUs and exports decreased 5.9% to 110,919 TEUs. Empty conta iners moving through the Port were down 38.3% to 177,787 TEUs.

POLA Signs Agreements with Tokyo and Yokohama Ports to Establish Green Shipping Corridor

SAN PEDRO — The Port of Los Angeles March 16 entered into separate Memorandum of Understandings or MOUs with the Port of Tokyo and the Port of Yokohama – to more formally collaborate on sustainability and environmental issues. The agreements were signed by Port of Los Angeles officials during the 2023 California Japan Clean Energy Trade Mission, led by California Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis and Dee Dee Myers, director of California Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development.

The MOUs with the two ports call for cooperation and sharing of best practices on environmental and sustainability initiatives, including the digitization of the supply chain to optimize efficiency and reduce port operational impacts.

Both the ports of Tokyo and Yokohama also agreed to establish a Green Shipping Corridor or GSC partnership with the Port of Los Angeles in the coming year, an initiative aimed at reducing emissions along their respective trade routes and promoting low- and zero-carbon ships and fuels. The Port of Los Angeles has already established GSC partnerships with the ports of Shanghai and Singapore.

In addition to strengthening trade routes, maritime operational supply chain efficiencies and environmental sustainability, other specific areas of cooperation under the two agreements include the testing and deployment of zero-emission vehicles, cargo handling equipment and vessels; exploring energy use and alternative energy sources; and cooperating on initiatives related to pollution-reduction technologies for terminals, ocean-going vessels and drayage trucks.

The Port of Los Angeles and Port of Yokohama have a long history of cooperation, dating back to a trade agreement signed in 1969 to strengthen trade routes between the two ports. The Port of Los Angeles and Port of Tokyo formalized a Sister Port relationship in 1987.

Delgado Named Port’s Tenant Services Director

LONG BEACH —The Long Beach Board of Harbor Commissioners has approved the appointment of Rafael Delgado as director of Tenant Services and Operations to lead the division that ensures good working relationships with port tenants and other supply chain partners.

Delgado moves into the role after working as manager of Tenant Services since September 2019. The Tenant Services Division provides customer service, operations support and efficiency enhancements to terminal leaseholders, ocean carriers, cargo owners and other supply chain partners so that they may operate their facilities and conduct their operations optimally and in compliance with leases and tariffs.

Delgado joined the Port of Long Beach in 2006 as a temporary employee. He has served in a variety of roles as a division secretary for the former Trade Development Division, as an administrative analyst, and as chief wharfinger from 2013 to 2019. Before he came to the port, he was a logistics manager for Lakeshore Learning Materials in Carson. Delgado earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration at California State University, Long Beach.