As the world financial crisis is lowering consumers’ ability to buy, less goods are shipped, which means less work for dockworkers. In this segment from Al Jazeera, Mike Kirsch visits Long Beach, California, one of the largest commercial sea ports in the US where the economic slowdown is clearly visible.
In Tacoma, Washington, total container traffic will fall for the second straight year and the long-term projections don’t look good. The port’s container volume grew 56.6% from 2001 through 2006. From 2006 through 2011, port projections show, container volume will drop 13.8%.
There is one part of the port business that is thriving, leasing space for foreign automakers as inventories pile up. From Left Lane News:
The Port of Long Beach recently leased an additional 23 acres of car storage to Toyota, with Mercedes-Benz leasing an additional 20 acres.
But the inventory problem isn’t just unique to Toyota and Mercedes-Benz. Honda, Nissan, Mitsubishi, Kia, Mazda and Volkswagen are all experiencing higher than usual inventories around the country, with most needing to lease extra storage space.
While some Americans still view the economic downturn as an excuse by the Big Three for lower auto sales, the slumping economy is clearly impacting all automakers equally. In fact, Toyota has been forced to cut Camry and Corolla production – two of the best-selling cars in the country – amid the market plunge.