The Port of Oakland said today its October export volumes reached a three-year high, increasing 20 percent over 2015 levels and posting the fourth-largest monthly total in its history.
The Port said it shipped the equivalent of 89,473 export containers last month, the most since October 2013. The figures cap a yearlong rally that has lifted Oakland exports 10 percent above 2015 volumes year to date. Exports account for 52 percent of Oakland's total volume, making it one of the U.S. ports that generate more export business than imports.
"Increased export volume is nothing new—we've reported gains in nine of the first 10 months of the year," said Maritime Director John Driscoll in a statement. "But the amount of volume growth highlights just how strong this rally is."
Port executives said that export volumes benefitted from weakness in the U.S. dollar that made U.S. exports more competitive in world markets and a strong agricultural harvest. Oakland is the closet seaport to the verdant growing areas of the Central, Napa, and Salinas valleys, and as a result handles much of the state's agricultural export cargo.
The port reported that containerized import cargo volume increased 2 percent in October. Overall loaded container volume—imports and exports—was up 11.4 percent, the port said.
