Container volumes through The Northwest Seaport Alliance, jointly launched by the ports of Seattle and Tacoma on August 4, marked a growth of nearly 8 percent in July 2015 compared to July 2014, the ports said in their monthly stats.
Through the first seven months of the year, the NWSA has handled nearly 2.1 million TEUs (20-foot equivalent units), a 4 percent increase year to date.
Strong volumes of full import containers powered the 3 percent year-to-date gain in containerized imports to 823,695 TEUs. Export containers grew nearly 6 percent year to date to 733,150 TEUs, propelled by the high volume of empty containers being sent back to Asia.
Full export containers struggled in July, falling nearly 14 percent on the year, the result of a stronger U.S. dollar and softening economies in Japan and China.
In other year-to-date cargo news: