Last week there were 101 containers ships waiting outside the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach. LA-LB ports are expected to handle 3 million more containers in 2021 than the previous year. A busy month used to be 800,000 containers per month, and during 2021, the ports have been handling 900,000 containers per month.
Logistics experts are predicting that it will take until mid-2022 to clear out the current backlog. Traditionally Chinese New Year will see a lull in shipping activity, but many importers are planning to get ahead of the spring shipping season, which will add another wave of freight to the US ports.
Source:
LA-LB backlog will not clear until well into 2022, experts say, Journal of Commerce, Dec 15, 2021. Accessed Dec 21, 2021.