Port Of Long Beach

Imports to the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach fell in March as U.S. shoppers reduced spending on retail items from furniture to clothing to automobiles. Combined shipments into the two largest U.S. ports fell 3% last month to 390,500 20-foot-long containers from 402,400 in March 2001. Exports rose 4.6% to 180,500 containers. "Demand is getting stronger, but it's still erratic," said Art Wong, a spokesman for the Port of Long Beach. Shipments from Long Beach rose 4.

Imports through the Port of Long Beach, the No. 2 U.S. seaport, fell last month as a slowing economy cut into consumer demand for goods from abroad, port officials said. Led by back-to-school orders of clothing and shoes, shipments declined 7.4% in July to 208,179 20-foot-long containers from 225,000 in the same month a year earlier. Exports, mainly raw and semi-finished goods such as plastics, chemicals, paper and metal, fell 10.3% to 77,956 containers from 86,874 in July of last year.

Imports through the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, the two largest U.S. seaports, rose in March, compared with the same period a year earlier. Shipments arriving at No. 1 Port of Los Angeles rose 14% above year-ago volume, to 207,000 20-foot-long containers. Imports through the Port of Long Beach increased 9.6% last month, to 196,000 containers, from 178,000 in March 2000.

The amount of imported cargo handled by the nation's two busiest ports dropped significantly in February, suggesting that the slowing U.S. economy is causing retailers and others to import fewer consumer goods from Asia. Imports handled by the Port of Los Angeles dropped 8% in February, which was the first decrease in year-over-year inbound cargo shipments in nearly two years. Meanwhile, the neighboring Port of Long Beach saw imports drop 13%, the third monthly decline in six months.

Import growth was relatively flat last month at the Port of Long Beach, the nation's second-busiest commercial harbor, compared with unusually strong inbound cargo volume the previous November, port officials said Tuesday. November typically marks the beginning of a slowdown in import cargo following the traditional holiday merchandise shipping crunch.

Imports flooded through the Port of Los Angeles in June as major domestic retailers continued to bring in more lower-cost, foreign-made consumer goods to fill the racks and aisles at their stores, port officials reported. Last month, Los Angeles harbor--considered the busiest in the nation--took in more than 211,000 import containers, a 31% jump from a year ago. The inbound cargo was mostly consumer products such as clothing, appliances and electronic goods.

The Port of Los Angeles on Wednesday joined the Port of Long Beach in a $750,000 study of the marine environment in the nation's largest harbor complex. The decision by the Los Angeles Board of Harbor Commissioners to join the study and pay $390,000 of its cost clears the way for another in a series of biological assessments and inventories of marine life that have been undertaken since 1970.