POLA Briefs: Port Exceeds 900,000 Container Units and signs MOU with UCLA to Advance Sustainability

Port of Los Angeles Exceeds 900,000 Container Units for Fourth Consecutive Month
LOS ANGELES — The Port of Los Angeles handled a record 905,026 Twenty-Foot Equivalent Units (TEUs) in October, a 25% increase over the previous year. It’s the first time the port has exceeded 900,000 TEUs for four consecutive months.

Ten months into 2024, the Port of Los Angeles has moved 8,491,420 TEUs, 19% ahead of its 2023 pace.
“These robust, sustained volumes will likely continue in the coming months with strong consumer spending, an early Lunar New Year, importer concerns about unresolved East Coast labor issues and the possibility of new tariffs next year that could drive up shipping costs,” said Port of Los Angeles executive director Gene Seroka. “I’m grateful to our dockworkers, truckers, terminal operators and others who handle these record levels of cargo every day. They have done it with speed, efficiency and without a single ship backed up at sea.” .

Mary E. Lovely, senior fellow at the Peterson Institute of International Economics, joined Seroka at the Nov. 20 media briefing. Lovely discussed the potential impact of additional tariffs against products made in China and other countries that are expected to be implemented by President-elect Donald Trump.
WATCH BRIEFING HERE

October 2024 loaded imports landed at 462,740 TEUs, a 24% increase compared to the previous year. Loaded exports came in at 122,716 TEUs, a 1% increase compared to 2023. The port processed 319,570 empty containers, a 38% jump compared to 2023.

UCLA, Port of Los Angeles Partner to Advance Sustainability, Research and Healthier Communities

LOS ANGELES — UCLA and the Port of Los Angeles Nov. 19 signed a Memorandum of Understanding or MOU based on their mutual dedication to sustainable operations and the health and well-being of local communities at the South Bay Summit on Nov. 15.
“UCLA and the Port of Los Angeles share core commitments to advancing sustainability, helping build healthier communities across the region, and innovating for the public good,” said UCLA Interim Chancellor Darnell Hunt. “This agreement will allow us to forge new collaborations between two of L.A.’s most important and impactful institutions.”
The event was conceived and organized by the Adept Group, Inc. or ADEPT, a green tech firm based in Los Angeles. The Los Angeles Regional Collaborative for Climate Action and Sustainability facilitated the workshop, which was held at the UCLA South Bay campus in Rancho Palos Verdes.

The memorandum focuses on fostering collaborations with neighborhoods and communities around the port and UCLA South Bay, like San Pedro and Wilmington. The agreement creates new learning, research and workforce opportunities for UCLA students, faculty and community members as the port continues to integrate the latest maritime innovations, supply-chain management approaches, clean technologies and ocean sciences.

The partnership is a natural one, the organizers said. UCLA South Bay, acquired by UCLA in September 2022, is gearing up to offer a curriculum based on sustainability, climate change and environmental justice — expanding opportunities for students and faculty at the nation’s No. 1–ranked public university.