The Port of Los Angeles handled a record 1,042,652 twenty-foot equivalent units in September, marking the busiest month in its 118-year history as rising imports helped cap unprecedented quarterly and four-month cargo totals.
Throughput exceeded the previous monthly record, set in July 2025, by more than 20,000 TEUs. The port handled nearly 3 million TEUs from July through September, its busiest quarter, and nearly 4 million TEUs from June through September, its strongest four-month stretch.
Volumes that reflected an extended peak season on reliable demand defied economic uncertainty, rising interest rates, chaotic tariff policy, and assorted geopolitics.
Loaded imports reached 545,696 TEUs in September, up 19% from a year earlier. Loaded exports increased 10% to 125,751 TEUs, while empty-container volume totaled approximately 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 a year ago.
Port Executive Director Gene Seroka in a media briefing attributed the cargo surge to resilient consumer demand, inventory replenishment and shippers allocating more freight to Los Angeles amid challenges along other global trade routes.
“September was a month for the record books, and it was part of an extraordinary run for the Port of Los Angeles,” Seroka said.
Seroka said tariffs had fallen from levels seen earlier this year, providing importers with greater cost certainty and allowing them to replenish inventories. He also cited continued consumer spending and challenges along the Suez and Panama Canal routes as contributors to the record cargo run.
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said the port’s performance reinforced its role as a local and national economic engine. She praised Seroka’s leadership and members of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union for their work handling the cargo.
“Los Angeles is strong because our Port is strong, and none of this would be possible without our talented, dedicated, and skilled workforce,” Bass said.
Read more articles by Stuart Chirls here.
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