The major maritime gateways on the US Pacific Coast are striving to boost efficiency through a variety of measures in order to cope with projected growth. A slower peak season should keep the pressure on them low this year.

On July 10, work started at the Port of Seattle on the modernization of Terminal 5. The project, which includes a revamp of the dock, the installation of new cranes and electrical infrastructure as well as dredging, is designed to enable to terminal to accommodate container vessels of up to 18,000 TEU. Upon completion, it will be able to handle two ultra-large container ships at a time. The terminal will be served by Maersk and Mediterranean Shipping Company.

The Northwest Seaport Alliance (NWSA), the joint venture of the ports of Seattle and Tacoma, is also moving to ramp up landside capacity. On July 1 it kicked off its ‘gate efficiency program,’ which aims to operate extended gate hours on a permanent basis. It will run until the end of 2020.

Under the program the NWSA is going to reimburse terminal operators up to US$600,000. For the maximum refund they have to run three off-hour gates per week during peak seasons plus two off-hour gates a week at other times.

At the Port of Los Angeles, the largest tenant is about to go ahead with a controversial project to boost productivity. On July 11 the Los Angeles Board of Harbor Commissioners voted in favour of permitting APM Terminals to deploy automated electric-powered cargo handlers. The plan has met with strong resistance from labour unions and local politicians.

In another move meant to improve truck turn times, the port authority is looking to create off-dock yards for chassis storage, which should free up on-dock space at the terminals. This is one of three major initiatives that the port is pursuing in order to ensure smooth flow of traffic through its system.

“With container exchange per vessel at record levels, we will continue to enhance and optimize our port complex in the coming months. Creating a universal truck reservation system, moving chassis off terminals and further refining the Port Optimizer are top priorities,” said Port of Los Angeles executive director Gene Seroka.

Port Optimizer is a cloud-based digital portal to connect port users that incorporates machine learning. Developed by GE Transportation, it was launched in Los Angeles in 2017.

Management of the Port of Long Beach is contemplating embracing Port Optimizer as well. Faced with mounting volumes and the challenges of megaships, port authorities regard data portals as an important tool to manage flows. Los Angeles and Long Beach handled a total of 17.5 million TEU in 2018. According to some projections, this will rise to 41 million TEU by 2040.

A record-breaking throughput of 764,777 TEU in June pushed Los Angeles to a total of 9.688 million TEU for fiscal 2018/19, up 5.7% from the previous year. Imports climbed 3.5%, while exports slumped 5.3% and empties were up 19%.

Long Beach fared less well than its neighbour in June, although it was the port’s second-best June result on record. Imports falling 13.7% and exports slipping 1% brought Long Beach’s total throughput to 677,167 TEU, 10% less than in June of 2018.

“The story we saw develop in 2018 was retailers forwarding goods to beat tariffs,” said Mario Cordero, the port’s executive director. “For 2019, it seems that the cargo is all here and warehouses are filled. That’s disrupting container movement and the growth we would normally see this time of year.”

Los Angeles and Long Beach have registered a shift in their trans-Pacific traffic. While China trade has been hit by the trade conflict between Beijing and Washington, business with other markets in the Asia-Pacific region is on the rise. At Los Angeles imports from Hong Kong and China were down 11.8% in the first four months of this year and exports to these destinations declined 24.7%. On the other hand, the port clocked up double-digit increases in imports from Cambodia, Vietnam and Thailand, while inbound traffic from Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Japan advanced in single-digit numbers.

Exports out of Los Angeles to Thailand declined during the period, but volumes headed to Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia showed gains.

Overall US imports from Asia grew 1.4% in the first half of this year. Imports from China declined 5%, while traffic from Vietnam showed the strongest gains, going up 30.5%.

A similar picture emerged for containerized agriculture exports shipped through the Port of Oakland in the first four months of the year. Having fallen 10% in 2018, they rebounded 12%, and this growth was driven by Asian markets other than China – notably Taiwan, Vietnam, South Korea and Japan.

At this point there is much uncertainty how the coming months will unfold. In response to weaker than anticipated traffic, lines cancelled three trans-Pacific sailings in June and have announced another three blanked sailings for July. Most of these have affected US West Coast ports.

Through June import volumes were seen to build up for the peak season, a relatively steady momentum that has not taxed port capacities. If this continues (which seems more likely than a sudden large spike), the ports should have no serious problems managing throughput in the coming months.

By Ian Putzger

Correspondent | Toronto