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ONWARD AND UPWARD
Stephen H. Dunphy, Seattle Times' columnist on the economy
informs us that
Pacific Rim
international trade is on an upswing. In his column for January 28 he informs
us that:
“At the
Port
of
Long Beach
during December, the number of loaded import containers was up by 13 percent
over the year, while the loaded export container count jumped by 31 percent.
This was the sixth month in a row of increases. For 2003, the total container
count at
Long Beach
was up by 3 percent to nearly 4.7 million TEU’s, or 20-foot equivalent units,
the industry's standard measure.”
“At the
Port
of
Los Angeles
, the total count for 2003 was up by 18 percent to 7.2 million TEU’s. The
import container count was ahead by 18 percent, while the number of loaded
export containers increased by 6.4 percent. The 2003 container count for the two
ports combined was up by 10 percent to 11.9 million TEU's. Not bad for a year in
which there were cargo diversions because of congestion early in the year, and
concerns over a weak economy.”
“
Seattle
and
Tacoma
ports together have moved about 3 million containers through November, with
both ports reporting strong gains from 2002.”
Dunphy also reports:
“The
Port
of
Seattle
took top honors for productivity and reliability in a nationwide poll of
shipping companies, landing ahead of power-house ports in
New York
,
Los Angeles
and
Long Beach
.
The
Port
of
Tacoma
ranked fifth in the poll, (besides being ranked, elsewhere, as the most
distressed city in the
U.S.
) conducted by Marine Digest, an industry magazine based in
Seattle
.”
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