The Northwest Seaport Alliance (NWSA), a marine cargo operating partnership of the ports of Seattle and Tacoma, set a record in April for international container volumes.
The alliance reached 265,781 20-foot equivalent units (TEUs). TEUs were 18.4 percent higher than April 2018.
For the first four months of the year, international container volumes reached 1.04 million TEUs, also a record and a 13.6 percent increase from 2018.
In April, domestic volumes grew 5.4 percent, reaching 58,167 TEUs. It was the fourth consecutive month of domestic cargo growth.
Compared to last year, Hawaii’s volumes through the Pacific Northwest grew 2.9 percent while
Alaska’s increased 7.1 percent.
The number of cars moved through the port increased 22.5 percent while breakbulk cargo volume grew 27.6 percent.
Total container volumes moved in April was 323,948 TEUs, a 15.8 percent increase from 2018. Total container volumes for the first four months of 2019 was 1.3 million TEUs, a 12.2 percent increase.
Import volumes in grew 14.3 percent in April and export volumes grew 22.4 percent.
“While we continue to monitor the effects of tariffs, we remain committed to supporting our customers move cargo efficiently through our gateway,” Tong Zhu, NWSA’s chief commercial officer and chief strategy officer, said.