The Northwest Seaport Alliance’s total year-to-date container volumes through August increased 5 percent while total monthly volumes for the gateway improved 6 percent over August 2016.

Full imports for the month of August reached their highest level since 2010, increasing 1 percent to 119,529 TEUs (20-foot equivalent units) compared to last year. Full exports were down 8 percent to 76,614 TEUs. Empty exports, reaching their highest volume since 2006, grew 58 percent as ocean carriers continued to reposition containers to Asia to keep pace with peak-season demand.

Year to date, full import volumes were up 5 percent to 922,886 TEUs, the fourth-highest on record. Meanwhile, full exports were down 1 percent at 616,957 TEUs. Total international container volume, including empties, increased 9 percent year to date to 1,963,419 TEUs, the highest YTD volume through August since 2007.

Total domestic volumes for the month increased 6 percent compared to the same month last year. Alaska’s year-to-date volumes were down 7 percent and are expected to end the year 8 percent lower than 2016 due to soft market conditions. Hawaii volumes through the Pacific Northwest are down 2 percent year-to-date due to diversion to Southern California.

Other cargo:

• Driven by consistent demand from China, log volumes continue to grow. They were up 101 percent to 186,582 metric tons year to date compared with the same period last year.
• Breakbulk cargo volume was down 3 percent to 125,030 metric tons year to date due to soft market conditions.
• Autos, at 96,962 units year to date, were down 19 percent compared to the same period last year, reflecting weakening U.S. demand and shifting manufacturing locations.

View the August 2017 cargo reports:

• Container volumes - August 2017
• Cargo statistics - August 2017