Tariff Trade: Container Ship Volume Sets Record In Oakland

OAKLAND, CA — Container ship import volume at the Port of Oakland reached an all-time high in June, port officials said Thursday.

The port handled the equivalent of 87,207 20-foot import containers in June, which beat the previous monthly record of 84,835 containers that was set last July.

The import volume in June was up 8.7 percent over June 2017.

Port officials said two factors may have led to the increase: the peak season in the summer and fall when most U.S. imports from Asia are shipped is expected to be strong this year and importers may have ordered
aggressively in June ahead of tariffs that were imposed this month by the U.S. and China.

"Retailers have been forecasting a good peak season for containerized imports, so June's numbers weren't surprising," Port of Oakland Maritime Director John Driscoll said in a statement.

But Driscoll added, "There's uncertainty over the international trade picture so we're taking a wait-and-see approach."

Port officials said it's too soon to project the impact of 2018 tariff increases on cargo from China. They said the increases would have affected about $225 million of China imports had they been in place last year.

Total container volume in Oakland is up 2.3 percent so far this year, and that is in line with a January Port forecast calling for growth of between 2 and 3 percent in 2018, according to officials.

Port officials said containerized export volume is down 1.8 percent through the first six months of 2018 and exports decreased 4.7 percent in June.

They attributed the decrease to a strong U.S. dollar, which makes American goods costlier overseas.

— Bay City News; AP Photo by Ben Margot