From the Puget Sound Business Journal:
Container volumes continued slumping at the ports of Seattle and Tacoma through 2008, according to just-released statistics, with some indications that the slowdown became more pronounced at year’s end.
Container volume moving through the Port of Seattle dropped 13.6 percent for the year compared with 2007, ending at the equivalent of 1.7 million 20-foot containers, or TEUs. The rate of erosion accelerated toward the end, with volumes down 21.8 percent in November and 27.6 percent in December.
This is the lowest container volume at the Port of Seattle since 2005.
The Port of Tacoma experienced a less severe decline, with its total volume dropping 3.3 percent to 1.86 million TEUs for 2008, also that port’s lowest volume since 2005.
Tacoma also showed signs of a steeper drop toward the end of the year, with the decline in container volume sliding into double digits in December, at 12.3 percent.
