The busiest container complex in the U.S. continues to churn through near-record import volumes, as businesses bring goods in ahead of potential tariff increases, and seek to avoid hurricane and labor disruptions at alternate ports.

“The Port of Los Angeles recorded its best September ever, effectively handling 955,000 container units,” executive director Gene Seroka told reporters October 18. “Even more impressive, the third quarter marked our single highest quarterly performance in our 116-year history.”

The LA and Long Beach ports, which together account for roughly a third of all U.S. container imports, each had their busiest ever peak season. Cargo volumes flowing into and out of Southern California beat the record set in the second quarter of 2021, when demand for consumer goods, and supply chain snarls, caused a massive backlog of ships offshore and a pileup of containers on the docks.

Bloomberg

In contrast, the record number of ships that called at the San Pedro Bay were loaded and unloaded without delays in July, August, and September as cargo handlers processed more than 2.8 million boxes, Seroka said.

Imports at the LA port in September landed at 497,803 20-foot container equivalent units, or TEUs. The port also handled 114,702 export containers and 342,201 empty containers in September.

The Port of Long Beach next door also had its busiest quarter overall, moving 2.6 million twenty-foot container equivalent units. In September, imports came in at 416,999 TEUs, exports were 88,289 TEUs and the port handled 324,211 empties.

“We have plenty of room across our terminals as the peak shipping season drives a record amount of cargo through this critical gateway for trans-Pacific trade,” Port of Long Beach CEO Mario Cordero said in a statement.

Seroka said he expects volumes to taper off a bit through the end of the year, while remaining higher than the typical post-peak period, as importers bring in goods ahead a relatively early Lunar New Year in 2025. The increase is also due to retailers’ worries about new tariffs ahead of next month’s presidential election, he said.

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“This is traditionally slack season, yet I see no evidence of a precipitous drop in cargo volume,” Seroka said. “If some importers anticipate new tariffs, as they did in 2019, we may see an uptick in cargo brought in early to avoid those extra costs.”

Many businesses are also planning for their spring merchandise to arrive early in case the labor dispute that shuttered every major port on the East and Gulf coasts earlier in October isn’t resolved before the new January 15 deadline — just five days before the new U.S. president is inaugurated. 

Under pressure from the White House to reopen the ports, the International Longshoremen’s Association accepted a 61.5% wage increase that will kick in when the new six-year contract with the U.S. Maritime Alliance is finalized. The two sides still need to agree on what’s likely to be even more contentious issue: automation at port terminals.

”What we all want to see is that the parties, USMX and the ILA ,reach a fair deal and get that in place so we don’t have another interruption in service before this extension expires,” said National Retail Federation president Matt Shay, who also joined the October 18 briefing. “And you know very well the issues that are to be debated and are still unresolved.”