18 April 2024 (Lloyd's List) - A RESILIENT US economy and strong consumer demand is propping up cargo volumes in the port of Los Angeles, and chief executive Gene Seroka is optimistic the good times will continue.

The port handled almost 2.4m teu in the first quarter, exceeding pre-pandemic 2019 cargo levels by 7.8%, and imports by 14.4%.

Volumes in March were also buoyed by strong export figures of some 144,000 teu, their highest in more than four years.

Both LA and Long Beach had their best first quarter outside the lockdown-era boom, handling a total of nearly 4.4m teu.

Seroka expected the strong US economy would continue to drive cargo volumes throughout the year.

Aside from the economy, he said the ratification of the west coast labour contract in August has restored confidence in the port, while the potential for labour disruption on the east coast in the fall could drive more cargo west.

Disruption in both the Panama Canal and the Middle East are also increasing the west coast’s allure.

“This economy keeps on cooking, and with those other issues we will have good import levels,” Seroka told reporters in a press briefing Wednesday.

The port’s first-quarter figures were 30% higher than in the same period in the past year, which was notably soft as the lockdown-era boom became a hangover, and labour uncertainty sent cargo eastwards. Volumes improved in the second half of the year, which will be reflected in slower growth in the coming quarters.

“We will not see the cartoon-like year-over-year gains”, Seroka said, referring to the almost 30% volume gains seen in the first quarter, “but as we start heading into the second quarter, which is traditionally a slack season, we will see a good bump”.

He added: “We will see those year-on-year growth rates moderate, but I am looking at pre-Covid numbers and what we look like on that five-year rolling average. We are now surpassing those numbers, which tells me that cargo volume is strong.”