February port volumes: Up in Norfolk, down in Los Angeles

The Port of Los Angeles in February handled 559,786 20-foot equivalent units (TEUs), down about 9 percent compared with February 2013 volume of 614,948 TEUs.

"The decrease is due in part to the Chinese New Year, which closed many factories in Asia for two to three weeks in February," port officials said in a press release. "Last year, the holiday had a negative impact on March container volumes."

Containerized import volume decreased 10.6 percent to 284,812 TEUs, exports dropped 6.2 percent to 146,925 TEUs, combined loaded imports and exports fell 9.1 percent to 431,738 TEUs, and empties declined 8.3 percent to 128,048 TEUs.

Meanwhile, the Port of Virginia in February registered 10,134 TEUs, up 6 percent year over year. Cargo growth at the Norfolk port was led by imports, which climbed 8.4 percent; rail containers, which rose 5.5 percent; and breakbulk tonnage, which increased 1.1 percent.

"We think February's volume could have been even greater, but repeated snow storms and resulting lost work days had an impact on us," said John Reinhart, the Virginia Port Authority's chief executive officer and executive director, in a press release. "[But] anything we lost in February, we expect to be made up in March."