Driven by a significant increase in demand for holiday merchandise, coupled with disruptions to terminal operations caused by a nearby traffic incident and fire in late September, the port achieved a remarkable throughput of 987,191 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) in October. This figure represents a substantial increase of 30.7% compared to the same month in the previous year. 

Furthermore, this surge not only exceeded the port's prior record established in August 2024 but did so by an impressive margin of 8%.

The Port of Los Angeles, which together with Long Beach account for roughly a third of all U.S. container imports, also beat pandemic records last quarter. Businesses are poised to continue bringing in larger volumes of goods through the end of the year, which is normally a quieter time for the ports. The dockworkers’ dispute is still unresolved and, if there’s no agreement before Jan. 15, there’s a possibility of a second port strike at East and Gulf coast ports.

“We anticipate a continued influx of cargo due to robust consumer demand, concerns about potential tariffs and ongoing labor negotiations at ports on the East and Gulf coasts” Port of Long Beach CEO Mario Cordero said Nov. 14. The port is the second-busiest in the U.S. behind the Port of Los Angeles.

Overall at the Long Beach port, cargo handlers moved 987,191 20-foot equivalent units in October, up 30.7% from the same month last year. The number of loaded import containers jumped 34.2% to 487,563, while exports rose 25.3% to 112,845 TEUs, and empties grew 28.1% to 386,782 TEUs.