FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
LAEDC Trade Study Finds LA/LB Ports
Are Bursting At the Seams In Record Shipments
***
“The passage of bond proposal last
fall provides resources for the urgently needed infrastructure projects in the
region," said Vance Baugham, President of the
Los Angeles-Long Beach.
Los Angeles—International
trade activity in Southern California is building to record levels in 2007
despite slower growth in the U.S. economy, according to a new study, “International Trade Trends & Impacts,”
released today by the World Trade Center Association – Los Angeles-Long Beach
(WCTA LA-LB).
“The total number of
containers handled at the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach should increase
by 9.2 percent to 17.2 million TEUs (twenty-foot container equivalent units),”
said
The total value of two-way
trade at the Los Angeles Customs District in 2007 should grow by 13.9 percent
to $375.1 billion. “A piece of good news
is that exports out of the customs district should continue to grow rapidly,
rising by 14.9 percent, due to the weakness in the U.S. dollar combined with
favorable economic conditions in the region’s major trading partners,” said
Kyser.
Some other results from the trade report include:
- The ports of
- The Los Angeles Customs District retained its
first place ranking in the
- In 2006,
- The largest export commodity out of the Los
Angeles Customs District in 2006 was “electrical apparatus,” with a value of
$12.1 billion. The top import commodity
was electronic machinery with a value of $34.3 billion.
“The passage of bond proposal
last fall provides resources for the urgently needed infrastructure projects in
the region," said Vance Baugham, president of the World Trade Center
Association, Los Angeles-Long Beach. “This study by LAEDC illustrates the need
for all stakeholders to work to together to ensure the revenues are invested
wisely to improve container goods movement, and to mitigate environmental
concerns.”
- International trade continued to be a
reliable employment generator for the
“Despite all this good news,
the international trade industry in
- The international trade industry has been
fiercely criticized about its environmental impacts due to its heavy use of
diesel power. Several mitigation efforts
are underway, but there needs to be better communication about them to the
region’s population.
- Land-side transportation capacity is under
extreme pressure, but paying for projects to alleviate them will be
expensive. Container fees have been
proposed, but there has been a push-back by various groups.
- Port and transportation workers are waiting
for implementation of the much-delayed Transportation Worker’s Identification
Credential (TWIC). There is concern over
both its cost and possible impact on port truckers.
- The labor contract between West Coast shippers
and the longshore union expires in June 2008.
While there is no early view about the tenor of the negotiations,
shippers remember the painful 2002 port disruption and are beginning to hedge
their bets.
“The industry has to not only
communicate more effectively with local residents, they have to start telling
the story nationally that almost everybody in the nation depends on
About the LAEDC
The LAEDC, the region’s premier
business leadership organization, is a private, non-profit organization established
in 1981 under section 501(C) (3). Our
mission is to attract, retain, and grow business and jobs in
(888) 4-LAEDC-1.