Los Angeles Port Breaks August Cargo Record

The Port of Los Angeles has set a new single-month cargo record for the fifth consecutive month making it the busiest August in the Port’s 112-year history.

During the month, the port moved 861,081 Twenty-Foot Equivalent Units (TEUs), an increase of 4.2 percent over the same period last year, said the nation's premier gateway for international commerce and the busiest seaport in the Western Hemisphere.

Eight months into 2019 overall volumes have increased 5.7% compared to 2018, when the Port set an all-time cargo record, the America's Port said.

“Our strong volume growth this year is due in part to our global supply chain relationships, aggressive marketing and improvements in operational efficiencies,” said Port of Los Angeles Executive Director Gene Seroka. “We continue to build value with the Port Optimizer™, a digitization tool which increases visibility of incoming cargo and improves logistics planning and overall efficiency.
 
“The final months of 2018 ended with an extraordinary influx of imports to beat expected tariffs on China-origin goods,” Seroka added.  “We don’t expect to see those kind of volumes in the months ahead.  We need a negotiated settlement of the U.S.-China trade war to restore global trade stability.”
 
August 2019 imports increased 4.1% to 437,613 TEUs compared to the previous year. Exports decreased 10% to 146,284 TEUs, the 10th consecutive monthly decline of exports. Empty containers increased 13.8% to 277,183 TEUs. Combined, August overall volumes were 861,081 TEUs. The previous August record was set in 2017 with 847,857 TEUs.