There was a virtual flood of imported cargo to the USA West Coast ports in March.
Container ships steamed into West Coast ports last month after the end of a labour dispute. While the resulting surge in imports may be short-lived, it could still depress first-quarter growth — especially when combined with a smaller gain in exports that underscores America’s role as the biggest ship in the waters of the global economy.
Imports of fully loaded containers into the Port of Los Angeles jumped a record 69.5 percent last month from February. Long Beach showed a 55.3 percent surge, also the highest since data began in 1995. The combined volume of imported containers into the ports of Seattle and Tacoma were the highest in records to 2008.
