The Port of Long Beach culminated in its second-busiest year on record by moving more than 7.6 million TEUs, despite the ongoing US-China trade war, Executive Director Mario Cordero announced Wednesday at the annual State of the Port address.
An ongoing trade war between US and China seems to affect volumes in the Port of Long Beach, the second busiest port in the US, which saw a 2.4% reduction in its TEUs handled through October, compared to the same month last year.
Port of Long Beach announced the launch of hydrogen and electric-powered cargo handling equipment at two of its shipping terminals aiming to become the world’s first zero-emissions seaport, in light of California Clean Air Day.
US West Coast’s six largest ports sent a letter to US President Donald Trump alerting about the impacts of the trade war between the US and China, adding that the escalating tension will affect ports’ economies, workers, residents and international partnerships.
Sharing figures for the month of August, the US Port of Long Beach said it saw the fifth-busiest August in its 108-year history, handling a total of 663,992 TEUs. However, this represents a 2.3% decrease in its cargo movement compared to August 2018.
The Port of Long Beach reported dramatic reductions in air pollution, including an 87% cut in diesel emissions, according to the port’s latest annual emissions inventory. This follows a series of aggressive actions by the Port to curtail pollution over the last years.
The Port of Long Beach, the second-busiest seaport in the US, will receive a grant of $4,777,500 from the US Department of Homeland Security’s Federal Emergency Management Agency, to enhance safeguards and upgrade its infrastructure network.
Port of Long Beach accommodated Mediterranean Shipping Company’s MSC Jewel, the cleanest container ship to visit the United States, on July 12. The vessel arrived at Total Terminals International’s Pier T facility.
The Port of Long Beach is moving towards the construction of a new on-dock rail support yard that will better-assist the flow of cargo, improve roadway traffic and reduce emissions by decreasing trips. The Port of Long Beach gave the green light to two key contracts in early July, enabling the start of the engineering design work and program management of the Pier B On-Dock Rail Support Facility project.
Tariffs continue to impact cargo traffic at the Port of Long Beach, where volumes fell in June, in comparison to the same month in 2018. Last June was the busiest month in the Port’s 108-year history, and capped the busiest second quarter during the busiest year ever.
