Total international containers handled by the Northwest Seaport Alliance increased 3.7 percent in September from the same month last year as the ports of Seattle and Tacoma continue to regain traffic lost earlier in the year due to port congestion and labor disruptions associated with the coastwide longshore contract negotiations.
International containerized imports increased 6.5 percent year-over-year and exports, following a national trend, were down 4.3 percent from September 2014, according to numbers provided by the alliance. Seattle and Tacoma are an important gateway for the domestic trades to and from Alaska and Hawaii, and those volumes declined 9.9 percent in September. Total containerized volume, including international and domestic, was up 3.7 percent from September 2014.