Long Beach sets new annual container volume record
Port of Long Beach (POLB) ended 2024 with 9,649,724 TEUs processed, up 20.3% from a year earlier and a 2.8% increase from the previous record of more than 9.3 million TEUs moved in 2021.
Imports rose 24.3% to 4,729,552 TEUs and exports declined 5.9% to 1,207,036 TEUs compared to 2023. At the same time, empty containers moving through the Californian port were up 26.6% to 3,713,137 TEUs.
POLB closed the year with its most active December by moving 861,006 TEUs, representing a 21.3% growth from the same month in 2023 and surpassing the previous record set in December 2020 by 5.5%. Imports jumped 23.9% to 412,876 TEUs and exports were down 2.8% to 100,792 TEUs from December 2023. Furthermore, empty boxes moving through the San Pedro Bay port increased by 27.3% to 347,338 TEUs.
December also marked POLB’s seventh consecutive monthly year-over-year cargo growth, while the Port also reported its busiest quarter overall, with 2,732,351 TEUs moved between 1 October and 31 December, breaking the previous record set during the third quarter of 2024 by 4%.
