The Northwest Seaport Alliance — composed of seaports of Seattle and Tacoma — said it saw a 7.8% increase year over year from November 2020, handling a total of 325,604 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) last month.

It said full imports grew 7.5%, while full exports decreased 18.4%. 

In a statement, it added that year-to-date volumes improved 15.4% to 3,482,104 TEUs, with full imports growing 20.9% and full exports declining 10.5%.

Meanwhile, it added that phase one of the two-phase modernization project at Terminal 5 in the Seattle Harbor is scheduled to open January 2022 —  the 185-acre terminal with on dock rail will handle the largest vessels in the transpacific trade when completed.

NWSA said domestic volumes grew 9.7% vs. year to date. Alaska volumes saw a 6.4% increase while Hawaii volumes grew 25.5%. 

It said breakbulk YTD November 2021 cargo volumes grew 32.9% to 335,971 metric tons, while auto volumes were 146,623 units, up 7.2% over YTD November 2020.