by Calculated Risk on 8/15/2011 05:15:00 PM

The following graphs are for inbound and outbound traffic at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach in TEUs (TEUs: 20-foot equivalent units or 20-foot-long cargo container).

Although containers tell us nothing about value, container traffic does give us an idea of the volume of goods being exported and imported - and possible hints about the trade report for July. LA area ports handle about 40% of the nation's container port traffic.

To remove the strong seasonal component for inbound traffic, the first graph shows the rolling 12 month average.

Click on graph for larger image in graph gallery.

On a rolling 12 month basis, inbound traffic is down 0.2% from June, and outbound traffic is up 0.6%.

The 2nd graph is the monthly data (with a strong seasonal pattern for imports).

For the month of July, loaded inbound traffic was down 2% compared to July 2010, and loaded outbound traffic was up 7% compared to July 2010.

Exports have been increasing, although bouncing around month-to-month. Exports are up from last year, but still below the peak in 2008.

Imports were down from last year, and are below the levels of July in 2006 and 2007 too. This is the 2nd month in a row with a year-over-year decline in imports - but there will probably be a surge in imports over the next couple of months as goods arrive for the holiday season.