Long Beach Mayor Robert Garcia and Harbor Commission President Lou Anne Bynum led a Port of Long Beach business development trip to South Korea and Japan last week, for meetings with shipping industry leaders.

The delegation, which included Port Executive Director Mario Cordero and Chief Commercial Officer Noel Hacegaba, discussed shipping trends, and sought to gain insight on future business opportunities. The group stopped in Seoul, Tokyo, and Yokkaichi, a sister city of Long Beach.

“With the recent changes in the shipping industry, this is a crucial time to meet face-to-face with our customers to expand business opportunities for the Port of Long Beach,” said Garcia. “These relationships are key to generating even more economic development in Long Beach.”

“Our business development outreach is one of the main reasons that the Port of Long Beach is known for its customer service,” said Bynum. “Our customers deeply value these meetings. It’s important for us to reaffirm our commitment to being adaptable, nimble and responsive to industry concerns.”

Earlier this year, the industry realigned the vessel-sharing alliances that allow groups of companies to join forces to compete against the rest of the industry. Ocean carriers routinely transport containers of allied companies. The changes in alliances also affect the ports that the carriers visit.

The Port of Long Beach this year has seen increasing cargo movement thanks to improving consumer demand and the port’s ability to meet the challenges of the alliance restructuring. Just one year after the loss of Hanjin Lines, a major ocean carrier customer, to bankruptcy, the port is seeing record volume. In addition, the Port of Long Beach is undergoing $4 billion in capital improvement projects this decade that are serving to improve the efficiency and environmental sustainability of cargo movement through the port.