America’s deepening economic crisis is causing a backlog of imported cars in the nation's largest seaport, providing a vivid glimpse of the economic malaise plaguing America, the McClatchy-Tribune Regional News reported.
Scrambling for open space to store vehicles Americans haven't been buying, carmakers Nissan, Toyota and Mercedes have signed deals to lease open space at the Port of Long Beach, where trade volumes this year are experiencing their deepest decline in two decades.
To accommodate the overflow, port authorities have opened up land on Pier S north of the Gerald Desmond Bridge for several thousand cars, trucks and SUVs, giving automakers a temporary respite while they cut back on production and shipments.
And it's not only car manufacturers that are hurting. Port officials in Long Beach and Los Angeles, which together handle 45 percent of the nation's seaborne trade, reported a 10 percent drop in overall volume this calendar year, following a 2007 trade year in which volumes were virtually flat.
The decline is driven by a steep drop in containerised imports, which are down more than 12 percent this year in Long Beach-Los Angeles, the nation's largest international trade gateway.
The previous year-over-year decline was in 2001, when container counts dropped three percent.
Exports, which had been one of the few strong points in the economy, began faltering this summer, and by September were diving into negative territory.
The bulk of exports shipped out of Long Beach and Los Angeles are raw materials used by manufacturers in Asia and used for energy and to produce goods like toys, computers, clothing and furniture.
With overseas factories now slowing or idling, demand for raw materials has nose-dived.
Data compiled by the Port of Long Beach shows exports dropping 4 percent in September and down 8.5 percent in October, when compared to the same time last year.
The Port of Los Angeles reports similar declines.
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