It is reported that the Port of Los Angeles, the largest port in the United States, is currently under continuous pressure from a large number of containers entering the port.
Workers are picking out Christmas presents from piles of containers to ensure that these goods can appear under the Christmas tree of American families in time.
According to data released by the Port of Los Angeles on Tuesday, the port handled a total of 889,746 20-foot standard containers in November this year, a 22% increase year-on-year.
Factors such as rising consumer spending, holiday gifts and restocking have contributed to an unprecedented surge in freight volumes in recent months.
Gene Seroka, executive director of the Port of Los Angeles, said that the average monthly container throughput since August has been close to 930,000.
It is rare to be so busy at this late in the year, but 2020 itself is not a normal year.
Seroka further stated that as consumers continue to stay at home and shop online instead of going out to consume services, it is expected that the busy port will continue for at least a few months.
To help shippers manage the influx of goods, the port has introduced new data tools and provided more places to stack containers.
The logistics pressure at the end of the year was mainly due to the impact of the epidemic in the first half of this year. As of mid-December, the annual freight volume of the Port of Los Angeles was still 3% lower than the same period in 2019. The main reason was the 19% drop in freight volume in the first five months.
Since the second half of the year, containers from Asia have poured in at a record rate.
The Port of Los Angeles stated that the imported 20-foot standard containers reached 464,000 in November, an increase of 25% year-on-year; the export standard containers fell 5% to 130,000;
At the same time, empty container transportation with strong demand in Asia increased by 34.2% year-on-year to 294,000.
According to media reports, the surge in container imports has also caused traffic congestion in the port, making it more difficult for trucks and trucks to transport goods from the port quickly, which has also caused a slowdown in the speed of cargo ships entering the port.
According to Seroka, 50 of the 88 ships that arrived at the Port of Los Angeles in November waited 2.5 days at anchor before unloading.
By December, 80% of arriving ships had to wait an average of four days.
The congestion of port transportation has also made the US toy industry worried. There is currently less than two weeks before the industry's most important Christmas.
Isaac Larian, CEO of MGA Entertainment, said that as of Tuesday, the company had a backlog of 250 containers at the port, which had been delayed by three to four weeks before the scheduled delivery date. Currently, it can only get some of them every day with the help of the port.
