Despite the fact that they are separated, almost literally, by a dotted line on the map, the latest cargo figures show the volume of containers moving through the nation’s top two-ranked container ports—Los Angeles and Long Beach—heading in different directions.

While the Port of Long Beach (POLB) handled a smaller number of containers than its San Pedro Bay neighbor in July, the port saw its overall container volume surge a record 18.4 percent over the same month in 2014.

Imports jumped to 345,912 TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units), a 16.2 percent increase from last July with exports increasing an impressive 15.9 percent to 143,875 TEUs despite a stronger U.S. dollar that’s made U.S. exports relatively expensive overseas.
July makes the fourth time in five months that the port has seen import gains: July (18.4 percent), May (4.8 percent), April (7.3 percent), and March (42.1 percent).

The growth, the POLB said, “is an indication that the U.S. economy is growing, and the stronger dollar is giving retailers the confidence to order more products from overseas to stock their shelves for consumers.”

In contrast, July container figures for the Port of Los Angeles (POLA) dropped by 2.5 percent compared to the same period last year with the port handling a total of 699,127 TEUs.

Last month, the volume of containerized imports moving through the port decreased 3.5 percent from July 2014 to 350,627 TEUs with outbound export container volume plummeting 16.4 percent from 163,294 TEUs in July of last year to 136,402 TEUs this past month.

For the first seven months of 2015, overall volumes (4,602,648 TEUs) are down 3.5 percent compared to the same period in 2014, the POLA said.