Port of Long Beach Smashes All-Time Record With October Surge

The Port of Long Beach moved nearly 1 million containers in October, beating a record set just two months ago.

The surge was driven in part by importers diverting cargo to Southern California to avoid risk of delays from a labor dispute that shut every major port on East and Gulf coast for three days in early October. Other businesses have been bringing goods before the tariff increases promised by President-elect Donald Trump kick in. 

The Port of Los Angeles, which together with Long Beach account for roughly a third of all US container imports, also beat pandemic records last quarter. Businesses are poised to continue bringing in larger volumes of goods through the end of the year, which is normally a quieter time for the ports. The dockworkers’ dispute is still unresolved and, if there’s no agreement before Jan. 15, there’s a possibility of a second port strike at East and Gulf coast ports early next year.

“We anticipate a continued influx of cargo due to robust consumer demand, concerns about potential tariffs and ongoing labor negotiations at ports on the East and Gulf coasts” Port of Long Beach CEO Mario Cordero said Thursday. The port is the second-busiest in the US behind Los Angeles.

Overall at the Long Beach port, cargo handlers moved 987,191 20-foot equivalent units in October, up 30.7% from the same month last year. The number of loaded import containers jumped 34.2% to 487,563, while exports rose 25.3% to 112,845 TEUs and empties grew 28.1% to 386,782 TEUs. 

With assistance from Brendan Murray.

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