Limited growth best US ports can hope for in 2010

Early indications on final import figures for US ports in 2009 reveal a 17% slump in traffic, despite overcoming a trough in the first half of the year.

The Ports of Long Beach (pictured) and Los Angeles can look forward to some growth this year.

Forecasts from Hackett Associates’ Global Port Tracker put monitored east coast and west coast US port imports at 13.7m teu for last year, down from 2008’s 16.5m teu.

And while the first five months of this year are expected to bring large increases over the same period of 2009 – 20.2% for monitored west coast ports - growth rates compared with the prior five months are “expected to be small”, said the analyst.

“Most ports have been able to build volumes since reaching a trough in the first or second quarter of 2009. But this growth has been modest, and has not been consistent. Looking ahead, a number of ports will continue to face an uncertain 2010, with growth limited if present at all.”

 
(Source: Port Strategy)