The Port of Long Beach, California reported last Friday that container traffic at the port for the full year 2011 stayed relatively flat compared to 2010. According to a press release from the port, the drop was due to the departure of California United Terminals (CUT), which accounted for approximately one-tenth of the port's overall container traffic. Adjusting for CUT's departure, the remaining terminals saw a gain of 8.1 percent in traffic in 2011--imports were up 10.1 percent and exports climbed 7.8 percent. Overall, however, the port handled 6.1 million twenty-foot equivalent containers (TEUs) last year--a drop of 3.2 percent compared to 2010.
In December 2011, the Port of Long Beach moved 509,944 TEU, a 2.6 percent decrease compared to the same period a year ago and a more measured decline following months of double-digit drops.