THE Port of Oakland's container volume was down 2.9 per cent year on year to 166,252 TEU in June, but imports were up 0.5 per cent to 95,530 TEU, reports the American Journal of Transportation.

The increase in imports was offset by a drop in loaded exports. Loaded export containers came in at 68,227 TEU in June compared to 71,192 TEU in June 2021.

This represents a 4.2 per cent decline, reflecting ongoing challenges with vessel schedule disruptions and lack of sufficient capacity on departing ships at Oakland for full exports.

"Despite prolonged supply chain challenges, so far we are maintaining our import volume," said Port of Oakland maritime director Bryan Brandes. "We're continuing to encourage ocean carriers to restore routes that will help expand vessel capacity for our exporters."

Supply chain problems include port congestion in Asia linked to Covid restrictions, import dwell time congestion, continued bottlenecks in all modes of transportation and lack of capacity to meet demand at warehouses.

Summer and early fall are usually the busy times for imports as retailers order inventory for the school year and Christmas.

These cargo statistics do not reflect the recent protest disruptions at the Oakland Seaport which halted operations for several days.