THE US port of Oakland in California handled 204,765 TEU in May, representing a decrease of 2.9 per cent compared with the same month last year. The decrease in May follows a 3.3 per cent year-on-year increase in container throughput in April, which was largely attributed to handling a record 75,369 TEU of loaded imports, reported American Shipper. Loaded import volumes were steady at 82,465 TEU in May, but loaded exports sank 8.3 per cent to 72,045 TEU compared with the same month the previous year, according to data from the port authority. Throughput of empty containers rose by 0.6 per cent to 50,255 TEU, while an 11.8 per cent increase in outbound empties was offset in large part by a 17.2 per cent decline in inbound empties. In the first five months of the year, total container volumes at the port increased by 1.7 per cent year on year to 996,138 TEU.