Ports Briefs: POLA Cargo Volume Increases Again and POLB has its Strongest September

SAN PEDRO/LONG BEACH  — For the second consecutive month, Port of Los Angeles cargo volume increased compared to 2022. The port handled 748,440 Twenty-Foot Equivalent Units (TEUs) in September, a 5.4% improvement compared to the same period last year.

Watch the briefing here, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9vFWLyJX5xg

Matthew Shay, President and CEO of the National Retail Federation, outlined retail trends for the upcoming holiday season during Monday’s media briefing.

In Los Angeles, September 2023 loaded imports landed at 392,608 TEUs, an increase of 14% compared to the previous year. Loaded exports came in at 120,635 TEUs, an increase of 55% compared to 2022. It was the fourth consecutive month of year-over-year monthly export gains.

Empty containers totaled 235,197 TEUs, an 18.5% decline compared to last year. Combined, September volumes were 748,440 TEUs, a 5.4% increase compared to last September.

Nine months into 2023, the port has processed 6,398,126 TEUs, 18.6% less than the same period last year. 

And in Long Beach, POLB saw its strongest September on record, boosted by consumer demand for holiday-related goods, recent ratification of a labor pact between dockworkers and management and an ongoing effort to showcase the business attributes of the port.

Dockworkers and terminal operators moved 829,429 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) in September, up 11.8% from the same month last year and surpassing the previous record set in September 2020 by 78,849 TEUs. September also marked the port’s first monthly year-over-year cargo increase in 14 months.

Imports rose 19.3% to 408,926 TEUs, while exports declined 10.3% to 101,248 TEUs. Empty containers moving through the Port grew 11.5% to 319,255 TEUs.

The International Longshore and Warehouse Union and the Pacific Maritime Association announced a tentative agreement on June 14. Dockworkers of the ILWU ratified the six-year contract on Aug. 31.

The port moved 5,822,666 TEUs during the first nine months of 2023, down 20.7% from the same period last year. Cargo volume this year has been on pace with pre-pandemic levels, when the Port of Long Beach moved more than 5.7 million TEUs through September 2019. Additionally, the port processed 2,089,990 TEUs between July 1 and Sept. 30, down 10.5% from the third quarter of 2022.