Port of Long Beach handles 674,723 TEUs in February, up 24.1% over 2023.
The Port of Long Beach posted a big boost in February TEUs throughput as cooling inflation, rising consumer confidence and an ongoing effort to recapture market share boosted cargo shipments moving through the Port.
Dockworkers and terminal operators moved 674,723 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) last month, up 24.1% from February 2023. Imports were up 29.4% to 329,850 TEUs and exports declined 21.1% to 87,474 TEUs. Empty containers moving through the Port increased 44.8% to 257,400 TEUs.
“Our highly skilled workforce has helped us achieve year-over-year increases in cargo for the last six months,” said Long Beach Harbor Commission President Bobby Olvera Jr. “Customers are taking notice that our infrastructure projects and environmental programs make us the Port of Choice.”
The Port has moved 1,348,738 TEUs during the first two months of 2024, a 20.7% increase from the same period in 2023.
The Port is also in the midst of a major rail facilities expansion. As the centerpiece of the Port’s on-dock rail projects, the state-of-the-art Pier B On-Dock Rail Support Facility will move freight faster and more sustainably. Cordero reported: “We now have commitments of $643 million in grants to help us build that important project - and more than $500 million of that was awarded in 2023 … The Pier B showcase will allow for faster, cleaner movement of freight by eliminating rail bottlenecks and reconfiguring several roadways in our north harbor area. The impacts of Port operations will be lessened for our neighbors around the harbor complex and communities along our freight corridors. The project will create more than 1,100 good-paying jobs and ultimately increase the proportion of cargo moved by on-dock rail. The reconfiguration and expansion of the rail yard will amplify cargo velocity, increase terminal capacity, lower the cost of doing business in the Port, and, in turn, make our Port even more attractive as a cargo gateway. Pier B’s benefits will not end at the Port’s property line. We will link to a future 4,000-acre intermodal hub in Barstow being developed by BNSF — the Barstow International Gateway. There, cargo containers will be reprocessed and moved along the BNSF (Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad) network to the East.” The project “will double the size of the existing Pier B rail yard to 171 acres and more than triple the volume of on-dock rail capacity handled annually to 4.7 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) … Meanwhile, we recently learned logistics provider Duncan & Son will team up in this year with Union Pacific — for a new, unique rail-haul service to Phoenix from Long Beach — a route typically served by trucks.”
In addition, “Pier B will enhance the Port’s competitiveness, maintain its role as an economic force for the region and serve as a sustainability model for ports in the U.S. and abroad. We’re rebuilding, electrifying equipment and decarbonizing operations while developing the skilled human talent,” according to Olvera.
