THE backlog of containerships waiting to unload in southern California is shrinking, the first sign in three months that congestion in US supply chains is beginning to shrink, reports the Wall Street Journal.

The number of containerships queuing to enter the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach declined to 78 vessels recently, down from the peak of 109 ships.

Port officials declared it is unclear whether the decline is the beginning of a trend or is temporary because of factory slowdowns in Asia for the Lunar New Year holiday that began February 1.

"No one is taking a victory lap," said Port of Los Angeles executive director Gene Seroka.

Although the ship backup is the smallest it has been since November 11, congestion remains severe by historical standards.

Containerships are waiting an average of 18 days to unload at the Port of Los Angeles, while it was unusual for ships to wait for a berth prior to the pandemic.

Maersk CEO Soren Skou expects supply-chain bottlenecks to continue at least until June.