by Calculated Risk on 12/16/2011 09:41:00 AM

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 November. 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.

On a rolling 12 month basis, inbound traffic is down 0.3% from October, and outbound traffic is down 0.2%.

Inbound traffic is "rolling over" and outbound traffic has stopped increasing.

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

For the month of November, loaded inbound traffic was down 4% compared to November 2010, and loaded outbound traffic was down 2% compared to November 2010.

Exports have been increasing, although bouncing around month-to-month. This is only the 2nd month with a year-over-year decline in exports since Sept 2009.

Imports have been soft - this is the sixth month in a row with a year-over-year decline in imports.

All current trade graphs