BEIJING: West Coast ports in September suffered a drop in container volume as well as import market share, but it is too early to determine if this is the beginning of a trend or just a one-month anomaly for ports that appeared to be recovering from the loss of business earlier in the year.
Statistics compiled by PIERS, a sister company of JOC.com within IHS, show that the West Coast market share of U.S. containerized imports in September declined to 51.4 percent from 52.5 percent in August. By contrast, the market share of East Coast ports increased to 43 percent in September from 42.1 percent in August, while the Gulf Coast market share increased to 5.5 percent from 5.4 percent.
Meanwhile, numbers posted this week on the website of the Pacific Maritime Association show a decline in West Coast ports’ total container volume in September to 1,318,780 twenty-foot-equivalent units from 1,483,942 TEUs in August. Total loaded containers handled by West Coast ports in September declined 4 percent compared to September 2014, and containerized imports were down 2 percent from September 2014, according to PMA numbers.
The first nine months of 2015 have been a roller coaster ride for West Coast ports due to labor issues associated with the contract negotiations between the International Longshore and Warehouse Union and the Pacific Maritime Association and the port congestion that resulted. However, the trans-Pacific trade sorted itself out by summer and much of the business that had been lost to East Coast ports earlier in the year returned to the West Coast. Container volume, especially imports, has increased steadily since June.
The market share of West Coast ports, however, has been less predictable, which indicates that importers continue to ship some discretionary cargo through East Coast ports to ensure reliability of delivery. Prior to the beginning of ILWU-PMA contract talks in May 2014, the West Coast market share of U.S. imports had been consistently above 50 percent. When there are no labor issues, West Coast ports offer faster time to market and competitive rates to inland destinations. Also, the ports are able to accommodate fully-loaded mega-ships of 8,000 to 14,000-TEU capacity in the trans-Pacific trade with Asia.
