L.A.-area ports pumped up volumes in May

The Port of Los Angeles in May registered 689,142 20-foot equivalent units (TEUs), up 8.2 percent compared with May 2013 volume.

Import container volume climbed 7.8 percent to 351,404 TEUs, export container counts increased 2.3 percent to 158,473 TEUs, total loaded container volume rose 6 percent to 509,877 TEUs and the number of empty containers shot up 15 percent to 179,265 TEUs.

Through 2014's first five months, overall volume reached 3,315,788 TEUs, up 8.2 percent compared with the same 2013 period.

Meanwhile, the Port of Long Beach in May handled 599,509 TEUs, up 2.7 percent year over year and the highest May volume since 2007.

Imports rose 2.3 percent to 312,439 TEUs, exports dipped 0.3 percent to 146,702 TEUs and empties climbed 7.1 percent to 140,368 TEUs.

"While May was the second consecutive month of increasing volume, Long Beach has seen an increase of just 1.3 percent for the first five months of 2014," port officials said in a press release. "Last year, against which 2014 is being compared, was the third-busiest year in port history with a total of 6.73 million TEUs."