Issue link: http://digital.nexsitepublishing.com/i/643635
www.cargobusinessnews.com January 2016 17 Port neWs gestion and cargo diversion in the first quarter. Long Beach topped 7 million TEUs during the year, a 5.4 year-over- year increase, and Los Angeles moved 8,160,457 TEUs, a 2.1 percent increase compared to 2014. "We're gratified to see the business growth — we worked diligently over these past 12 months to recover from a very challenging start to the year, result - ing in record volume and productivity gains and the strong and steady return of diverted cargo," said Port of Long Beach CEO Jon Slangerup. "We credit terminal operators, labor, shipping lines, cargo owners and our local community with pulling together to turn things around." The Port of Los Angeles moved a total of 8,160,457 Twenty-Foot Equivalent Units (TEUs) in 2015, a decrease of 2.1 percent compared to 2014. Current and historical data is available here "I'm pleased that the Port of Los An - geles has surpassed the 8-million TEU threshold for the fifth time in our his- tory," said Port of Los Angeles Executive Director Gene Seroka. "Despite the soft start to the year, our terminals, labor force and supply chain stakeholders rebounded strongly. With bigger ships and the ongoing work to increase sup - ply chain efficiencies, we look forward to building on this momentum in 2016." In December, the Port achieved 5.1 percent overall growth, compared to December 2014. Imports increased 7 percent to 296,002 TEUs, while exports fell 4.1 percent to 126,118 TEUs. In December, empties rose 9.5 percent to 174,328 TEUs. In December 2015, total cargo vol - umes for the Port of Los Angeles were 626,276 TEUs, a decrease of 4.9 percent compared to the same period last year. December 2015 imports dropped 4.5 percent to 321,407 TEUs compared to the previous year. Exports fell 13.7 percent to 131,239 TEUs in December. A cargo terminal was offline for several weeks in December in order to install new software, which was the primary reason for the drop in December cargo. The prospective buyers were not made public, although there was speculation that Cosco was the sole bidder. The privatization agency said it will ask the bidder to raise its offer. Greece has said that Cosco, Denmark's APM Terminals and Philippines-based International Container Terminal Ser - vices were interested in the sale. hAPAg-lloyd ExECUTivE APPoiNTEd CEo of PoRT CANAvERAl Canaveral Port Authority Commis- sioners announced they have chosen shipping line executive Capt. John W. Murray as the next chief executive of- ficer of Florida's Port Canaveral. Murray currently is the president and CEO of Hapag-Lloyd USA, a major ship- ping line that operates approximately 150 modern container ships and transports more than five million TEUs per-year. "We believe our port and our com- munity will be well served having Capt. Murray at the helm," said Commission Chairman Jerry Allender. "He brings strong business experience and leader - ship skills that will help the Port navi- gate to our next level." Allender said he hopes to have a ne- gotiated contract with Murray on this month's Commission meeting agenda scheduled for January 20. Outgoing CEO John E. Walsh's last day is January 21. If necessary, Port Ca - naveral CFO Rodger Rees will step into the CEO role in the interim. 1/12: NRf: 2015 iMPoRTS UP 5.4 PERCENT AT MAJoR U.S. CoNTAiNER PoRTS With the holiday season over, import car- go volume at the nation's major retail con- For 2015, a total of 7,192,066 TEUs moved through Long Beach. Imports rose 3.1 percent to 3,625,263 TEUs, while exports dropped 4.9 percent to 1,525,560. Empty containers rose 20.2 percent to 2,041,243 TEUs. The strong dollar continues to favor imports and discourage exports, resulting in more empties being sent back overseas to be refilled with goods. During July and August, Long Beach achieved record cargo volumes resulting in the Port's biggest quarter in its history — more than 2 million TEUs moved through the Port in the third quarter. Port of Long Beach CEO Slangerup will present information about the port's 2015 accomplishments and plans for 2016 during the annual State of the Port address on Thursday, Jan. 21. 1/14: CoSCo CoNfiRMEd AS oNly biddER foR gREECE'S PiRAEUS PoRT Greece has only received one bid — from China's Cosco Group — for a ma- jority stake in the Piraeus Port Authority, the operator of the country's biggest port, the privatization agency said. The leftist government of Alexis Tsipras halted the port privatization after winning elections in January last year, but resumed the process under the $93 billion bailout with its euro zone partners in August. Privatizations, a key element of Greece's bailouts since 2010, have pro- duced revenue of only $3.8 billion so far. Athens concluded a $1.3 billion airport leasing deal with Germany's Fraport in December, hoping this would help it to meet its target for privatization proceeds of $3.25 billion this year. The final bids for a 51 percent stake in Piraeus Port were submitted on Dec. 21.