The US gateway port of Los Angeles saw a rise containers handled in December, the only month in the calendar year when volumes increased.

A sharp rise in exports drove up the figures, but in percentage terms, the overall increase in container throughput was tiny - a minuscule 0.35 percent increase over December 2008,

The port said the increase in export containers has remained strong and it believed this added fuel to speculation that the international container trade would start to recover in 2010.

The total number of TEUs imported and exported through Los Angeles in December was 562,990, compared to 561,033 TEUs in December 2008.

Loaded container exports were up a whopping 40.23 percent at 153,836 TEUs compared to 109,704 TEUs in December 2008.

For calendar year 2009, total container volume decreased by 14 percent over 2008. The decrease was due to the global recession and a lack of consumer spending, particularly in the US.