NEW YORK: Trade volume at the second-busiest U.S. port surged 23 percent in August, breaking a record set in July, spurred by rising consumer confidence and a strong dollar.
A total of 703,652 cargo containers moved through the Port of Long Beach in August, it said Wednesday in an e-mailed statement. The port, which is investing $4 billion in infrastructure improvements, is poised to overtake neighboring Los Angeles next year as the No. 1 U.S. gateway when an automated terminal being built begins operating.
Two months of record volumes is cementing a comeback at Long Beach, which along with other West Coast ports lost business to East Coast rivals such as New York and Savannah, Georgia, earlier in the year during a dispute between 20,000 unionized dockworkers and their employers. The ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, which together handle about one-third of all cargo entering and leaving the U.S., have been working since then to better coordinate operations and speed cargo through to its destination.
“Our partners once again have expressed their confidence in the Port of Long Beach and we thank them for their business,” Jon Slangerup, chief executive officer of the port, said in the statement. “We have been working with all our stakeholders and the results are our best month ever.”
