U.S. Northwest and Southeast Ports Make Volume Gains

Container volume was up by nearly 20 percent at the Northwest Seaport Alliance of Seattle and Tacoma year-over-year for November, the two ports report, for nine consecutive months of growth. Total volume year to date was up six percent, including an 11 percent increase in exports.

Last November, the International Longshore Workers Union called a labor slowdown at the ports, deeply cutting into container moves, and the year-over-year improvement partly reflects the resolution of that conflict.

Total Seattle and Tacoma container volume for the year to date was about 3.3 million TEU.

The Northwest Seaport Alliance is also conducting an environmental review and feasibility study process for the renovation of Terminal 5 at the Port of Seattle. The terminal redesign will permit the accommodation of the newest 18,000 TEU ULCVs, and the Port's timeline calls for construction completion by the end of 2018.

On the other side of the country, the Georgia Ports Authority also reported a record November, with the highest volume ever and up 12 percent year over year.

"We're truly running this year at volumes we didn't expect to see until 2018 or 2019,” said Georgia Ports Authority Executive Director Curtis Foltz, speaking to local station WTOC. "We have become so large and mature as a port, traditionally right now we should be in the three-and-a-half or four percent range."

He added that labor disputes on the West Coast – the same cited in the Northwest Seaport Alliance's November report – had brought Georgia more customers, and that those customers had stayed. “We . . . proved to those customers that have been here for some time that if you need to send more business our way, we can handle it and we can handle it efficiently,” said Foltz. 

The Port of Savannah is among the fastest growing ports in the world on the Journal of Commerce's top 50, a level of success attributable to capacity for sustained operations, the port authority says. It has shown the ability to absorb the extra traffic without getting slowed down by congestion, unlike some competitors. Foltz says that “customers are finding a competitive advantage through the Port of Savannah, serving the U.S. Southeast with speed and efficiency.”