The Ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles Friday released preliminary figures for May 2010, with Long Beach showing a 25 percent increase in container traffic from May 2009. Imports increased by approximately 27 percent, while exports rose 15 percent. Port officials stated that May was the sixth month in a row in which both imports and exports increased, a scenario no seen since 2006. As for Los Angeles, container traffic increased by 20 percent year-on-year in May.
Additionally, the number of "empties" (empty ships that leave the port to be filled with goods from Asia before returning to the US) increased by 35 percent at the Long Beach port and 58 percent at the Los Angeles port in May.