The ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, which together make up one of Southern California's most important job engines, held their own against spirited competition from smaller harbors in 2012.
The two ports handled slightly more cargo than they moved in 2011 despite an eight-day strike that shut down most of the Los Angeles port and half of the cargo terminals in neighboring Long Beach.
The two ports also dodged a potential blow to their reputations for reliability that could have haunted them well into this year and beyond because of that strike, trade experts said.
"In 2012, we had a hurricane shut down the nation's third-busiest port, New York-New Jersey, and shippers have been worried about strikes affecting many other ports," said Paul Bingham, economics practice leader at consulting firm CDM Smith Inc. "That means Los Angeles and Long Beach don't stand out as being unusual."
The nation's big retail chains, manufacturers, shoe and apparel companies, farmers and others are still worried about the state of ongoing labor negotiations affecting 14 Eastern and Gulf Coast ports and the possibility of a potentially crippling strike.
The International Longshoremen's Assn. and the United States Maritime Alliance Ltd., a group of shipping lines, cargo terminal operators and port associations, have been negotiating on a new six-year contract since March. A Feb. 6 deadline looms, which represents the end of the latest contract extension.
International trade grew slightly in 2012, with the 10 biggest U.S. ports handling 34.2 million cargo containers, or about 800,000 more than they did in 2011, an increase of 2.4%. Some ports posted strong gains, including Savannah, the nation's fourth-largest port, which rose an estimated 9%; Hampton Roads, Va., No. 7, up an estimated 10.4% and Tacoma, Wash., No. 9, up an estimated 12.7%.
Overall, Los Angeles and Long Beach captured a 40.9% share of the volume of container cargo moving through the nation's 10 biggest ports in 2012, down slightly from the 41.9% share they held in 2011.
Experts anticipate that 2013 will bring overall slow gains in trade.
"In the past 12 months there have been strikes at the ports, hurricanes and shifts in manufacturing," said Paul Rasmussen, chief executive of Zepol Corp., which tracks trade data. "Not to mention that in a post-recession economy, U.S. companies are running their businesses much more conservatively."
"It's no wonder that 2012 imports were less than dramatic and certainly not back to the massive consumption seen in 2007," Rasmussen said.
Los Angeles and Long Beach together moved 14.1 million containers in 2012, slightly more than they did in 2011, but there were positive signs for both ports. That is good news for the Southern California economy because the two ports are directly responsible for about 595,000 jobs in Southern California and indirectly support an additional 648,500 jobs, said John Husing, principle of Redlands firm Economics & Politics Inc.
For Los Angeles, which handled 8.12 million containers, it was the best post-recession year to date and its third-busiest ever. That was in spite of the fact that its December cargo numbers were down 9.4% compared with the same month in 2011.
It was only the third time in the port's 105-year history that dockworkers handled more than 8 million containers in a year. Those containers carried imports, mostly from Asia, as well as U.S. exports headed overseas and empties that were also headed back across the Pacific.
The mark was reached despite an eight-day strike in late November and early December by the International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 63 Office Clerical Unit that shut down seven of the port's eight cargo terminals.
"We're pleased with 2012, but as we look forward to the next 12 months we don't see significant growth in global trade," said Geraldine Knatz, executive director of the port.
The port last topped 8 million containers in 2007, when it handled 8.4 million containers. The port's record is 8.5 million containers, reached in 2006.
Los Angeles is the only U.S. port to top 8 million containers in a year and is the 16th-busiest port worldwide.
The neighboring Port of Long Beach sustained steep declines over much of 2012 but had its strongest showing in the latter stages. It was helped in part by a shift of some business from the Port of Los Angeles by French shipping giant CMA CGM Group.
Long Beach surpassed 6 million containers in 2012, and officials there were heartened by the strong late-year numbers.
"December was the port's best month for imports ever," said Art Wong, spokesman for the Port of Long Beach. "We're pretty happy about that."
ron.white@latimes.com
Container traffic at L.A., Long Beach ports up slightly in 2012
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Container traffic at L.A., Long Beach ports up slightly in 2012
