The port of Oakland has recorded a year-to-date volume increase in July but a decline in comparison to the same period of last year.
In particular, the US port has seen a growth of 9% in total volumes and 16% in imports since the start of 2021.
However, a slight downtrend in container traffic has been noticed, as the total volumes which include imports, exports and empty container repositioning, decreased by 3.5% compared to the previous year’s July.
In the meantime, containerised imports saw a year-on-year decline of 1.7%, while exports decreased by 4.7%.
The port attributed the declines to the high cargo volume during the first half of the year, as surging shipments stacked up on docks causing delivery delays.
Due to that fact, shipping lines omitted several sailings to the harbour, according to Port of Oakland Maritime Director, Bryan Brandes who stated that “Vessel berths and container yards were crowded with some shipping lines bypassing Oakland.”
Despite the current downtrend, the port estimates that cargo volume should increase again from August through October, as those months constitute the peak shipping season for retailers building holiday inventories.
