NWSA sees big growth in import volumes

The Northwest Seaport Alliance (NWSA) saw a 7.8% handling increase year-on-year from November 2020, processing a total of 325,604 TEU.

Full imports grew 7.5%, while full exports decreased 18.4%.

Year-to-date volumes improved by15.4% to 3,482,104 TEU, with full imports growing 20.9% and full exports declining 10.5%.

Domestic volumes grew 9.7% vs. year-to-date 2020.

Notably, Alaska volumes saw a 6.4% increase while Hawaii volumes grew 25.5%.

Phase one of the two-phase modernisation project at Terminal 5 in the Seattle Harbor is scheduled to open January 2022. When complete, the 185-acre terminal with on dock rail will handle the largest vessels in the transpacific trade.

The NWSA is a marine cargo operating partnership of the ports of Seattle and Tacoma.

Combined, the ports in the NWSA are the fourth-largest container gateway in the United States. Regional marine cargo facilities also are a major center for bulk, breakbulk, project/heavy-lift cargoes, automobiles and trucks.

2021 has been a year of successes for NWSA: in November the alliance announced it handled 313,430 TEU in October 2021, an increase of 5.6% compared to the year prior.

The NWSA also recently voted to improve its environmental sustainability efforts by approving a $500,000 fund to support the use of electric yard trucks in the Port of Tacoma. Announced in August 2021, the trucks are to be bought by Rail Management Services with the NWSA installing the electrical infrastructure to support charging. The electric trucks will be the first of their kind in the NWSA gateway.