Port Trade Treading Water

In today's paper.

Port trade forecast is gloomy
By Muhammed El-Hasan, Staff Writer

The Los Angeles Customs District will see muted growth this year as shaky economic factors weigh on international trade, according to a study released today.

The total value of imports and exports through the customs district is forecast to reach $365.7 billion, up 4.7 percent from last year, according to the study by the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corp.

The largest portion of the customs district traffic goes through the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, as well as Los Angeles International Airport.

The two ports will see a 1percent annual increase in loaded container traffic this year, to a combined 15.8 million 20-foot equivalent containers, the study forecasts.

"We're used to 10-percent-a-year growth in container traffic," said Jack Kyser, chief economist at the LAEDC. "We didn't get that last year. We won't get that this year. The question is, will it recover next year?"

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