Port of Tacoma Traffic Rose 8 Percent in January

International container volume at the Port of Tacoma in January increased 8 percent year-over-year, as imports surged 12.4 percent at the Washington state port.

Containerized exports rose 4.1 percent in the same period, while intermodal traffic jumped 19 percent compared to January 2011. Domestic containers moving to and from Alaska and Hawaii in January dropped 5 percent year-over-year.

Total port container traffic including international, domestic and empty containers increased 4.1 percent compared to January 2011. Tacoma said it anticipates a slight drop in container volume in February because Asian factory production slowed as Chinese New Year celebrations came earlier this year.

-- Contact Bill Mongelluzzo at bmongelluzzo@joc.com. Follow him on Twitter @billmongelluzzo.