Driven by a building boom in the desert and increased demand for natural gas and oil pipelines, the Port of Los Angeles has become the nation’s second-largest steel port, the Long Beach Press-Telegram reports.
The port handled more than 4.9 million metric tons (MMT) – or 10.8 billion pounds – of bulk steel in 2006, most of it imported from Japan, Brazil and Mexico.
That’s nearly double the 2.5 MMT imported through Los Angeles in 2005 and pushes the port above Detroit, whose domestic automakers are among the nation’s top steel consumers.
The top steel port is Houston.
