Port Expects Growth in Container Shipping

The Port of Long Beach announced last week that it expects to see a growth in cargo imports and exports via container ships in 2013.

According to the port, industry experts at the recent "Pulse of the Ports Peak Season Forecast" conference in Long Beach said that as the economy slowly recovers, they expect a three to six percent growth in freight volume during the peak cargo shipping season of August through October.

"There is a recovery going on," said Walter Kemmsies, the chief economist for the engineering firm Moffat & Nichol. "All the wheels are turning in the right direction... We expect the economy to be better this year than last year.”

Officials at that conference also expressed concern over the recent government sequestration that may lead to a reduction in staffing by U.S. Customs and Border Patrol agents at the port.

The "peak season forecast," which predicts levels of trade from August through October, is provided each year by the Port of Long Beach to "assist customers and the entire industry in business planning for the year and beyond," the port said in a release.

A webcast of the entire two-hour program can be viewed online at www.polb.com/pulseports.