The Port of Los Angeles reported its busiest three-month period of cargo in its history, after processing 2.9 million twenty-foot equivalent units between June and August.
The port previously reported that it moved more than 1 million TEUs of cargo in June, marking a record for that month. The following month, the Port of Los Angeles logged its second-busiest July on record when it moved more than 960,000 TEUs. The port processed 955,907 TEUs in August to close out the summer, coming in 6% above the port's five year average for the month, and staying on par with that same month last year.
“We’ve put together an exceptionally strong summer in Los Angeles,” said Port of Los Angeles executive director Gene Seroka. “Resilient consumer demand, early holiday shipments and a broad mix of cargo have all contributed to that strength."
Seroka added that September is shaping up to be another strong month, and that the port is confident in its momentum headed into the rest of the year. In a separate release, the National Retail Federation said that it expects September will be the busiest month of the year for import volumes at the nation's major ports.
Global Port Tracker data cited by the NRF projects that major U.S. ports will process 2.29 million TEUs in September, which would beat September 2025 by 9.6%, and outpace July as the busiest month of the year so far. NRF VP for supply chain Jonathan Gold said that the later peak season is being driven by a surge in cargo rerouted from the Panama Canal due to ongoing drought conditions, and a shift in shipping traffic stemming from bad weather in China that delayed vessels earlier in the summer.
“We thought the peak season would be mostly behind us by now, but that’s not the case,” Gold said.
