Posted on 09/19/2010 11:50:53 AM PDT by blam
West Coast Shipping Booms In August
by: Mark Perry
September 19, 2010
The Port of Portland reported that shipping totalled 1,256,980 short tons in August, which was the highest monthly shipping volume in almost two years, since the 1,268,216 short tons in October 2008 (see chart above), and the highest shipping volume ever for the month of August at the Portland port. Compared to August of last year, shipping volume was up by 27.8%, and the cumulative year-to-date volume is up by 39.5%.
The Port of Portland is a major shipping point for grains harvested as far east as the Great Plains (Source: New York Times), and monthly grain tonnage in August set an all-time record high of 557,042 short tons (more than a billion pounds), due to an increase in demand for U.S. grains as the world economy recovers. Shipping at the Port of Seattle also showed a significant 38.9% improvement in August compared to last year, following strong double-digit gains of 22% or higher in every month this year versus 2009 (see chart below).
Finally, shipping at the Port of Long Beach in August was the highest monthly volume yet for 2010, and was 23.9% above volume for the same month last year. Total shipping for the fiscal year (October 1 to September 30) is 10.7% above last year.
See previous post on LA Port shipping being back to pre-recession levels.
So if I read the source data correctly, out of 100% of the traffic handled, 45% is exports(discharge), 55% is imports (load).
Does anyone know if that is the correct terminology?
outbound grain (Russia’s crop failed); “world economy recovers,” not US. It will lead to increasing food prices here, farmers benefit.http://www.bloomberg.com/markets/commodities/futures/
My seattle longshoreman friend says alot of Christmas stuff is sent over about this time of year.
I'd feel better if we were exporting manufactured goods instead of raw products.
Your speculation is probably close to the truth.
Tons of outbound low grade lumber as well. Simpson alone committed to 30 million Board Feet of #3 and Economy going to China.
I think you've nailed it. It's important to remember that consumer spending has not dropped all that much despite what the media tells us. It's already back to the levels of early 2007. Business-to-business spending, on the other hand, has fallen into the cellar and can't get up. But since that isn't shown in the GDP, it's ignored.
Christmas stuff has to be on the shelves by the Fri. after Thanksgiving. It needs a couple of weeks to get from the wholesaler to the retailer, and another couple of weeks to from the point of import to the wholesaler. It make perfect sense a LOT of stuff would be coming into port the last half of Sept.
The merchants received loans. They operate as most others have. ...doesn’t mean that we’ll all be buying much.
A friend who works at Macy’s said the Christmas merchandise is already in or arriving and they are now implementing the Christmas merchandising at his store.
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