US west coast ports boosted by retail sales demand
Long Beach, Los Angeles, Oakland and Seattle-Tacoma collectively saw robust loaded imports of 1,093,872 teu in September, versus loaded exports of just 385,656 teu for the month
The import figures reflect US retail sales growth, which accelerated in September. Retail sales increased 1.9% last month, the most in three months, after climbing 0.6% in August, according to the US Commerce Department