Port Traffic Trends: Cleveland: Long Beach/Los Angeles, Global Port Tracker, Great Lakes/Seaway

Cleveland Container Service Dramatic Growth Accelerates

The Port of Cleveland was presented with a Robert J. Lewis 2014 Pacesetter award by the U.S. Saint Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation (SLSDC) at its monthly board meeting on September 10. The award recognizes the dramatic growth in international cargo generated by the Cleveland Europe Express (CEE) liner service and the port’s traditional line of non-containerized steel cargo. Operated by Dutch ship owner Spliethoff Group, the CEE provides the Great Lakes only scheduled maritime access to European markets.

The growth produced by the CEE is "quite exceptional," said SLSDC Administrator Betty Sutton during the award ceremony. Ms. Sutton noted a 35 percent increase in international cargo and 30 additional international ships transiting the Seaway to or from Cleveland in 2014. The creation of the CEE was seen as a "breakthrough in St. Lawrence shipping," said Ms. Sutton, who observed increased awareness of and excitement for using the service in her travels on behalf of the SLSDC.

In an update on maritime delivered to the board by David Gutheil, the port’s vice president of maritime & logistics, reported that last year’s growth has accelerated in 2015.

"We are up nearly 475 percent just in the volume of shipping containers compared with last year," said Mr. Gutheil. "The direct international connection the CEE provides is critical for our region to compete in the global economy." Gross revenue generated by the CEE also has more than tripled as compared with this time in 2014.

In support of maritime, the board at that same meeting approved a series of four resolutions authorizing strategic investments in port infrastructure to increase speed, efficiency, capacity, and security on site. Those include design and construction of a new warehouse with up to 45,000 of storage space; the purchase of new cranes to handle the major increase in shipping containers via the CEE; the purchase of a reach stacker to increase efficiency on dock; and upgrades to the port’s perimeter security fence.

These infrastructure improvements are partially or fully funded through a combination of grants and forgivable loans. Those include a $4.9 million Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality grant awarded through NOACA and the Ohio Department of Transportation, a forgivable $3 million State of Ohio Logistics and Distribution Stimulus Loan, and a $74,250 Department of Homeland security grant.

San Pedro Ports Box Traffic up 12% in August

The San Pedro Harbor ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles together handled container volumes totaling nearly 1.5 million TEUs in August, an increase of 7.3 from the percent from the preceding month and 12.0 percent compared to August 2014. In detail, the data show gains from a year ago of  11.9  percent for inbound loads,  25.7 percent for empty containers, and a decrease of  4.2 percent for outbound loads. That brought year-to-date throughput at America’s largest container handling complex to nearly 10.1 million TEUs, up 1.0 percent from approximately 10.0 million TEUs in January-August. View the PDF for additional detail.

Global Port Tracker: Retail Imports Climb as Holidays Approach

Import cargo volume at America’s major containerized retail cargo handling ports will likely increase 1.2 percent this month from a year ago as retailers head toward the holiday season, according to the monthly Global Port Tracker report released September 9 by the National Retail Federation and Hackett Associates.

Global Port Tracker’s conclusions are based on its survey and analysis of inbound container traffic flows at the ports of Charleston, Hampton Roads, Houston, Long Beach, Los Angeles, Miami, New York/New Jersey, Oakland, Port Everglades, Savannah, and Seattle/Tacoma.

"After supply chain worries earlier this year, inventories are plentiful this fall," said NRF Vice President for Supply Chain and Customs Policy Jonathan Gold said. "Shoppers should have no worries about finding what they’re looking for as they begin their holiday shopping."

Ports covered by Global Port Tracker handled 1.62 million TEUs in July, the latest month for which after-the-fact numbers are available. That was up 2.9 percent from the previous month and 8.1 percent from July 2014. August is estimated at 1.6 million TEUs, up 5.5 percent from 2014. September is forecast at 1.61 million TEU, up 1.2 percent. Subsequent month forecasts: October – 1.62 million TEUs ( 3.8 percent); November – 1.5 million TEUs ( 7.9 percent); and December – 1.44 million TEUs (-0.2 percent). That would bring the calendar year total to 18.2 million TEUs and an increase from 2014 of 5.4 percent.

January 2016 is forecast at 1.44 million TEU, up 16.9 percent from weak numbers seen a year earlier just before West Coast dockworkers agreed to a new contract that ended a months-long labor dispute.

Hackett Associates Founder Ben Hackett said economists have been watching a "stubbornly high" inventory-to-sales ratio this summer. But he said the cause appears to be the flood of cargo that came after the new West Coast dockworkers’ contract was signed rather than weakness in demand.

Project Cargo Floats Through the Seaway in August

Despite a seasonal slowing of Seaway traffic, U.S. ports remained busy in August handling a range of project cargo for their customers.
   
"During the month of August, high value project cargo was on the move throughout the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Seaway System," said Betty Sutton, administrator of the U.S. Saint Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation. "Ships carried oversized cargo of wind components like towers, nacelles, blades and hubs; machinery, generators, and refinery equipment to the Ports of Cleveland, Toledo and Duluth. Clearly shippers chose to move heavy lift cargo via the Seaway System because of the economic benefits, safety and reliability of our waterway and its direct access to the heartland of North America."

It has been a good year for project cargo shipments at the Port of Toledo, many of them "in support of the regional oil and gas industry," according to Joe Cappel, PPM®, vice president of business development for the Toledo-Lucas County Port Authority.  

In August, the port welcomed the BBC Ohio, delivering cargo for Husky’s Lima refinery. Siemens natural gas turbines shipped from Charleston (SC) arrived in Toledo later in the month on the barge Sea Crescent for a new power plant in Oregon (OH).

"In addition to project cargo handling at our general cargo facility, we are trans-loading oil and gas products at our new Ironville terminal from rail to truck. This is a great example of the diverse cargo handling capabilities of our stevedore, Midwest Terminals, and the importance of having unit train capacity and good intermodal connectivity," Mr. Cappel added.

It also has been an extremely busy summer for heavy-lift and project cargo at the Port of Duluth/Superior. Four of nearly two dozen vessels expected this year arrived in August to discharge wind turbine towers, nacelles and 49-meter blades for ALLETE Clean Energy’s Thunder Spirit wind farm in North Dakota, plus components for that state’s oil and gas industry.

"We anticipate closing out this season on a high note here at the Clure Public Marine Terminal," said Vanta Coda, executive director of the Duluth Seaway Port Authority. "There are another five ships on the horizon scheduled for later this fall, serving the wind, oil and gas, and pulp/paper industries in North America’s Heartland."  

Seaway cargo transits from April 2 to August 31 totaled 18.3 million metric tons, down 10.6 percent from the comparable period of the 2014 Seaway navigation season. Positives include gains of 70 percent for U.S. grain shipments, 122 percent for pig iron, and 9 percent for dry bulks (particularly potash ( 207 percent) and stone ( 62 percent)). Posting declines were general cargo (-9 percent), iron ore (-15 percent), coal (-37 percent), and liquid bulk (-5 percent).