Are Cargo Volumes on the Upswing at LA, Long Beach Ports?

Port of Long Beach

The ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, Calif., on June 13 reported that cargo volumes have improved sequentially over the past several months. May cargo throughput was up 60% since February in Los Angeles and up 15.6% from April in Long Beach.

According to the Port of Los Angeles, cargo volume increased in May for the third consecutive month. The port handled 779,140 TEUs (Twenty-Foot Equivalent Units) for the month. “While that is a drop of about 19% compared to last May, it represents a 60% increase in cargo since February,” the port said.

May 2023 loaded imports reached 409,150 TEUs, down 18% compared with the prior-year period. Loaded exports came in at 101,741 TEUs, a 19% decline from May 2022. Empty containers landed at 268,249 TEUs, a 22% year-over-year fall-off.

For the first five months of 2023, the Port of Los Angeles handled 3,304,344 TEUs, a 27% drop from the same period last year.

“Even with improving volume, our terminals are a long way from working at full capacity,” Port of Los Angeles Executive Director Gene Seroka said. “We’re starting to see more vessels headed across the Pacific to Los Angeles, an encouraging sign for the second half of the year.”

Seroka noted that a completed labor contract between the International Longshore and Warehouse Union and Pacific Maritime Association—along with a “healthy U.S. economy”—would boost waterfront jobs and cargo activity in the remainder of 2023.

The Port of Long Beach said May was its strongest month so far in 2023, “raising mid-year hopes of a trend of increasing volume.” Dockworkers and terminal operators moved 758,225 TEUs last month, a 14.9% decrease from May 2022. Imports fell 17.2% to 361,661 TEUs, and exports increased 8.1% to 127,870 TEUs. Empty containers moved through the port dropped 20% to 268,695 TEUs.

According to the port, cargo throughput in May was up 15.6% from April, which was 8.6% more than March. Although trade declined 14.9% for May year-over-year, cargo moved through the port was down 20.1% year-over-year in April and 30% in March, the port said.

The Port of Long Beach reported moving 3,135,600 TEUs during the first five months of 2023, a 24.8% decrease from the same period last year. Loaded imports were down 28% to 1,472,626 TEUs, while loaded exports were up 0.9% to 600,586 TEUs.

“At mid-year we’re starting to see signs that cargo volume is on the upswing, with our busiest month since August of last year,” Port of Long Beach CEO Mario Cordero said. “We look forward to more positive signs in the months ahead.”

“Over the long term, the San Pedro Bay ports complex will continue to be a strategic and sustainable gateway for trans-Pacific trade,” Long Beach Harbor Commission President Sharon L. Weissman said. “We will work with our industry partners to recapture and grow market share in this increasingly competitive environment.”

In a related development, the Los Angeles Board of Harbor Commissioners on June 7 approved a $2 billion Fiscal Year (FY) 2023/24 annual budget for the Port of Los Angeles, calling for “increased investment in port operational and public-access infrastructure, as well as support for a range of industry leading sustainability and decarbonization initiatives.”