The Port of Long Beach, Calif., is riding a wave of six straight months of record volumes to head toward 9.6 million twenty foot equivalent units (TEU) in 2024, breaking a record for container volumes set during the pandemic in 2021.
The second-busiest U.S. import gateway reported its best November on record, handling 884,154 TEUs, an increase of 20.9% from the same month a year ago and ahead of the previous record set in November 2020 by 12.8%.
Loaded imports gained 21.8% to 432,823 TEUs while loaded exports were 9.5% better at 119,083 TEUs from November 2023. Empty containers reached 332,250 TEUs, up 24.5%.
It was the sixth consecutive monthly year-over-year cargo increase.
“Imports are being driven by strong consumer demand while retailers continue to move cargo here out of concern for labor negotiations at ports on the East and Gulf coasts,” said Port of Long Beach Chief Executive Mario Cordero in a release, adding the gateway has experienced no service disruptions in 2024.
Container volume totaled 8,788,718 TEUs through the first 11 months of this year, up 20.2% y/y. Imports loads came to 4,316,676 TEUs, up 24.4%, and loaded exports totaled 1,106,244, off 6.2% year-to-date.
Inbound empties fell 5.3% to 156,593 TEUs while outbound empties soared 28.7% to 3,209,206 TEUs year-to-date.
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