(Reuters) - Ongoing U.S.-China trade tensions weighed on November container volumes at Southern (NYSE:SO) California's sprawling Los Angeles and Long Beach port complex, the nation's busiest overall and the No. 1 for ocean trade with China.
Total cargo volume dropped 12.4% at the Port of Los Angeles and 3.5% at the adjacent Port of Long Beach last month.
"As we expected, 2019 winds down with volumes weakening, due largely to the U.S.-China trade war," Port of Los Angeles Executive Director Gene Seroka said in a statement.
November imports fell 12.2% to 371,350 TEUs, or 20-foot equivalent unit, at the Port of Los Angeles. Imports slid 8.3% to 293,287 TEUs at the Port of Long Beach.
Port of Los Angeles exports dropped 9.2% to 138,545 TEUs, while Port of Long Beach exports rose 6.9% to 123,705 TEUs.
The National Retail Federation expects November retail imports to surge on stockpiling ahead of a new round of tariffs that is scheduled to hit $160 billion in Chinese consumer goods on Dec. 15.
East Coast ports are outperforming rival West Coast ports this year. Among other things, East Coast ports are benefiting from massive projects that allow the Panama Canal and the Suez Canal to accommodate larger ships.
"Now, all the sudden, your domestic freight is originating dynamically all over the place instead of in L.A.," said Drew McElroy, chief executive of Transfix, a digital freight brokerage.
