Cargo volumes at the Port of Oakland increased by 10% year-over-year in 2024, with the Bay Area shipping hub expecting to return to pre-pandemic baseline cargo numbers by the end of the year.

Data released by the port on December 26 shows that imports of full containers increased by more than 13% in November 2024 compared to that same month in the previous year, along with a 12% bump in total twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs). Exports of full containers increased by 8.5% as well, while imports and exports of empty containers both decreased by just under 15%. The port has also seen 13 straight months of container volume growth through November of 2024. 

"Our total inbound and outbound volume is up, and agricultural exports are boosting our outbound cargo business," said Port of Oakland manager of business development Carolyn Almquist. 

The outlook for other West Coast ports has been similarly positive in 2024, with the Port of Long Beach on track to set an all time annual record for TEUs in 2024, and the Port of Los Angeles expecting to close out the year with its busiest December on record. As of mid-December, the Port of Los Angeles had processed around 9.4 million TEUs for the year, beating the port's five-year average of 7%. If the port reaches 10 million TEU in 2024, that will mark just the second time in its history it has ever hit that milestone.