Below are highlights from the recently released trade data from the US Census Bureau and US Bureau of Economic Analysis. To view additional data and analysis related to the California economy visit our website at www.centerforjobs.org/ca.

Although conditions are now easing, the West Coast ports continued to be swamped in March by the surge in imports as companies sought to rebuild inventories and as consumer demand for a broader range of products resumes.  Pacific Merchant Shipping Association reports the number of containers handled by Port of Los Angeles was up 122.5% from the same month a year ago, and up 74.0% at Port of Long Beach and 30.5% at Port of Oakland.  From the Census data, the value of containerized imports handled by Los Angeles ($21.3 billion) was 74% above number two Newark, NJ ($12.2 billion). 

Exports were a different matter. Los Angeles ($2.23 billion) ranked number four in the value of containerized exports, behind Houston ($2.72 billion), New York ($2.67 billion), and Norfolk-Newport News ($2.52 billion). Number six Long Beach ($2.16 billion) came in just behind Savannah, GA ($2.18 billion).

Top 20 exports by value are shown below, along with the change from March 2020.
 
By shipping weight (vessel and air total), the leading export was Waste & Scrap at 0.8 billion kg (40% of total exports), followed by Fruits & Tree Nuts at 0.2 billion kg (12%), and Other Agricultural Products at 0.2 billion kg (10%).