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Cargo volume at the Port of Long Beach, Calif., surged in January, climbing 17.5 percent to 536,263 20-foot equivalent units (TEUs) compared with January 2012.

Loaded inbound container volume jumped 19.5 percent to 273,918 TEUs, loaded outbound container volume rose 8.2 percent to 126,714 TEUs and empty container volume surged 23.1 percent to 135,631 TEUs as imports exceeded exports.

"The weeks preceding the Chinese New Year, or Lunar New Year [which began Feb. 10], usually see a rise in cargo traffic in the trans-Pacific trade, " port officials said in a volume summary. "Retailers stock up on merchandise before factories in China and throughout Asia close down for the holiday."

In addition, cargo increases logged in recent months are due in part to more larger ships calling on the port and the addition of service lines to Long Beach, they said.

Meanwhile, the Port of Los Angeles' total volume in January tumbled 4.2 percent to 669,000 TEUs.

The number of loaded inbound containers declined 5.3 percent to 337,428 TEUs, loaded outbound containers fell 5.4 percent to 159,257 TEUs, total loaded containers decreased 5.4 percent to 496,686 TEUs and total empties dipped 0.9 percent to 172,314 TEUs.