The slump at the nation’s ports continued in April as 20-foot-equivalent container (TEU) volumes were down, in some cases by double digits when compared with 2019.
The Port of Los Angeles reported a 6.4% year-over-year decrease as it processed 688,999 containers in April compared with 736,465 in the same month a year ago. The facility’s executive director, Eugene Seroka, told reporters during a May 13 conference call they’re muddling through.
“We’re moving cargo at about 85% of normal volume at this time of year; we’re down about 15%,” he said. “There is plenty of space — plenty of capability — as we help our country re-emerge from the economic shutdown we have witnessed for the past seven or eight weeks.”