At his February 17th media briefing Gene Seroka, executive director, Port of Los Angeles reported that in January 2021, the Port recorded the following container movements: • Imports increased 5.5% over January 2020 with 437, 609 loaded TEUs • Exports declined by 19.5% to 119, 327 TEUs • Empty containers rose 14.5% to 278, 580 over January 2020

As the turbulent economy of 2021 makes its way through the first quarter, businesses are experiencing uneven patterns of equipment investment demand depending on which market sectors they serve.

In a conference call with reporters on Feb 8th, Brian Bourke, chief growth officer at SEKO Logistics warned that the logistics situation globally “will get worse before it gets better.”

In his ‘State of the Port’ address, Mario Cordero, executive director, Port of Long Beach paid tribute to the men and women keeping the Port operational during the pandemic and demonstrating that the Port is “not deterred by the pandemic.”

You could call this the perfect storm but I’m sure major retailers and importers from Asia would have other choice words to describe the current situation in the container sector. The supply chain is currently experiencing severe disruptions.

Jim McKenna, president of the Pacific Maritime Association (PMA), reported that the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach have seen the highest number of COVID cases among U.S. West Coast ports and that thirteen longshore workers have so far died.

Port of Oakland Executive Director Danny Wan Describes Exceptional 2020 In State of the Port Address

Officials at the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach are urging California Governor Gavin Newsom to give priority to vaccinating longshore workers against the COVID virus so as to relieve congestion and delays at the two ports caused in part by a shortage of longshore workers who have been infected.

While this could just be a case of early teething problems, logistics specialists and trade analysts fear it’s more likely a portent of the difficulties to come moving cargo to and from Britain.

Gene Seroka, executive director of the Port of Los Angeles reported that the Port moved 9.2 million twenty-foot containers (TEUs) in 2020