West Coast ports have been pushing through recoveries after the significant slowdowns and losses of business that plagued them during the 2014-2015 congestion crisis. Now some, such as Oakland, have evidence that they are making progress.
In March the Port of Oakland recorded its third-straight month of increased exports, and officials are hoping this short period of growth at the outset of 2016 can turn into a trend, according to the Journal of Commerce (JOC). The port's containerized exports jumped 9.9 percent year-over-year. The increase over March 2015 was not expected. That was the month following the Feb. 20 tentative contract agreement between the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) and the Pacific Maritime Association (PMA) that was the beginning of the end of the congestion crisis. As a result, March 2015 was a big month for exports from the West Coast.
If exports from the Pacific Coast continue to grow, the Port of Oakland stands to benefit. California's Central Valley sends many of its agricultural exports through Oakland, the JOC explained. If exports continue to rise year-over-year, 2016 could prove a significant improvement over 2015 for the Northern California port.
"It's too soon to declare this a trend, but we're encouraged by recent signs," John Driscoll, the Port of Oakland's maritime director, told the JOC.
A welcome change for the Port of Oakland
Success stories such as Oakland's three months of export growth are a welcome change along the Pacific Coast. Contract negotiations between the ILWU and the PMA that began in 2014 and lasted through February 2015 were one of the primary reasons for the West Coast congestion crisis during the same stretch. Each side blamed the other for gumming up various processes at ports such as Los Angeles, Long Beach and Oakland. Mudslinging and work slowdowns characterized the latter stages of the negotiations, and ships backed up into the water on lengthy lines awaiting their turns to unload containers.
In January and February 2015, West Coast ports experienced year-over-year export declines as high as 20 or even 40 percent, according to the JOC. For shippers, doing business on the West Coast grew less desirable as the discussions dragged on. Many moved shipping routes to the East Coast to avoid the congestion. Which is all to say, for much of 2014 and early 2015, West Coast ports were not exactly thriving. Oakland's recent export growth is a good sign for the year to come as the Pacific Coast works to recover from the crisis,.
Total container volume and imports drop
However, all of the news out of Oakland was not good. The total container volume figures for the ports were not nearly as rosy as its export numbers. In all the volume for exports, imports and empty containers combined dropped 14.5 percent in March, the JOC reported. Imports alone tumbled 32.5 percent year-over-year. This large drop is attributable to the container boom of March 2015 that followed the ILWU-PMA tentative contract agreement.