In line with a trend of decreasing port volumes in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Northwest Seaport Alliance, including the ports of Tacoma and Seattle, handled 270,388 TEUs in July 2020, a 17.2% decline compared to July 2019. Full imports declined 15.9%, while full exports decreased 23.4%.
Total overall container volumes for the year declined 18.2% compared to 2019. The NWSA handled a total of 1,834,652 TEUs year to date. Full imports declined 17.9%, while full exports decreased 11.3%.
This is a result of economic fallout from the global pandemic which continues to disrupt supply chains across the country and around the world. The NWSA gateway experienced a total of 57 blank sailings through July, driven by COVID-19 and the lingering trade dispute with China.
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Experiencing nearly the same number of canceled sailings as we did in all of 2019 in the first seven months of this year, the global pandemic and the trade war between US and China have unleashed unprecedented impacts to our gateway. Despite these very difficult times, we remain cautiously optimistic as shipping lines have announced only one more blank sailing through the end of 2020. This is a fluid situation, and we’re not out of the woods yet,
…said CEO John Wolfe.
Meanwhile, NWSA breakbulk cargo volumes were down 2.2% year over year to 160,098 metric tons. Auto volumes year to date were 77,278 units, down 34% year over year.
