Import Cargo Activity Falls at L.A., Long Beach Ports

The amount of imported cargo handled by the nation’s two busiest ports dropped significantly in February, suggesting that the slowing U.S. economy is causing retailers and others to import fewer consumer goods from Asia.

Imports handled by the Port of Los Angeles dropped 8% in February, which was the first decrease in year-over-year inbound cargo shipments in nearly two years. Meanwhile, the neighboring Port of Long Beach saw imports drop 13%, the third monthly decline in six months.

“Our import volume in February was the lowest it’s been since the early part of ‘98,” Long Beach port spokesman Art Wong said. “It’s something to be concerned about.”

Sales at the nation’s top retail chains have been sluggish so far this year compared with the same period a year ago, and sales at the nation’s top 82 retail chains grew by 3.1% last month, compared with 6% in February 2000.

As sales have dipped so have store inventories, said Edie Clark, a spokeswoman with the International Mass Retail Assn. in Washington. “To some degree, the retailers have been more conservative in ordering for spring this year,” she said.

Clark and other observers said February’s port figures don’t necessarily spell the onset of a sustained slump in imported retail goods.

Although business was slower in February than a year ago at Transport Express, a trucking and warehousing company in Rancho Dominguez, sales director Patty Senecal said, the month is expected to be an aberration. “In talking to our customers and looking ahead, we’re hearing it will be a strong year overall for imports,” she said.

Exports, meanwhile, were up nearly 5% at Los Angeles harbor in February while they fell at Long Beach by roughly 8% to post the fourth decline in as many months.