Los Angeles port hits cargo record as shippers reroute freight

The Port of Los Angeles handled 1,042,652 twenty-foot equivalent units, or TEUs, in September, the busiest month in its 118-year history, as importers replenished inventories and shippers routed more cargo through Southern California.

The port’s Oct. 9 cargo update said September topped the previous monthly record, set in July 2025, by more than 20,000 TEUs. The month also capped the busiest quarter in port history, with nearly 3 million TEUs from July through September, and the strongest four-month stretch on record, with nearly 4 million TEUs from June through September.

The result carries weight beyond Southern California. The Port of Los Angeles says the San Pedro Bay port complex, which includes Los Angeles and Long Beach, handled about 31% of U.S. containerized international waterborne trade in 2025.

The cargo mix shows import strength

Loaded imports reached 545,696 TEUs in September, up 19% from September 2025. Loaded exports totaled 125,751 TEUs, up 10% year over year, while empty containers reached about 371,206 TEUs, the highest monthly total in port history. Through the first nine months of 2026, Los Angeles handled nearly 8.1 million TEUs, more than 3% ahead of the same period in 2025.

Descartes Systems Group separately reported that U.S. containerized imports totaled 2,546,261 TEUs in September, the highest September volume on record, down 2.2% from August and up 10.3% from September 2025. That puts the Los Angeles record inside a broader U.S. import surge, rather than a one-port anomaly.

Reuters reported that shipments of equipment tied to artificial intelligence projects, including data centre cooling components, were also booming. That suggests the September import wave was not only about retail merchandise.

Route changes are pushing more freight west

Port Executive Director Gene Seroka said tariffs were lower than levels seen earlier this year, giving importers more certainty on costs and allowing faster inventory replenishment. He also pointed to continued consumer spending and challenges along the Suez and Panama Canal routes as factors behind the port’s historic cargo run.

During the port’s August briefing, Seroka said trans-Pacific rate spreads could favor East Coast routings, but the speed of moving cargo through Los Angeles and onto rail can still make the full trip attractive for importers serving inland U.S. markets. Reuters also reported that some ships from Asia shifted toward the West Coast from the East Coast because of restrictions on the Panama Canal shortcut.

For technology retailers, e-commerce operators and hardware distributors, the significance is route risk, not just port volume. Freight planning depends on tariff timing, fuel costs, canal limits and how quickly goods can move inland after they land.

Companies are choosing options over pure cost

Harvard Business School professor Willy Shih, who joined the port briefing, said companies are moving from "purely optimizing for cost to optimizing for options."

Reuters reported that the port has recently handled more containers than it did during the COVID-19 shipping surge without the vessel backups that left more than 100 ships waiting to enter. That operational contrast adds context to the September record: high volume is far more useful when containers keep moving off the docks.

Another strong month is expected, but uncertainty remains

Seroka told Reuters the port expects to process about 900,000 TEUs in October and that most holiday merchandise should be in the country by November. He also warned that a new trade announcement from Washington could renew uncertainty.

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