Local Ports Expected to See More Imports

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The ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach will receive a stronger surge in imports than previously expected in the first half of 2010, rising as much as 28 percent over previous-year levels as the economic recovery continues to gather strength, according to a report released Monday by the National Retail Federation.

Overall, imports into the nation’s major container ports are forecast to rise 25 percent during the first six months of the year compared with the year-earlier period.

The projection shows that at least some economists are expecting steady progress at a time when others are fretting over the possibility of a double-dip recession. Previous forecasts for the local ports and for the nation’s busiest harbors for container cargo had been for lukewarm improvement at best for the first half of the year.

But Hackett Associates, which tracks import data every month for some of the nation’s biggest retailers, said that it was noticing positive signs from a number of indicators. One of those was the fact that the record number of ships that were laid up or idled for lack of work last year had begun to drop substantially.

• Read the full Los Angeles Times story.

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