LA and Long Beach set to handle nearly 20m teu in 2024
The US West Coast gateway ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach continued to report strong volume growth in November. The Port of Long Beach reported record November volumes of 884,154 teu, up 20.9% from the same month last year and surpassing the previous record set in November 2020 by 12.8%.
Imports grew 21.8% to 432,823 teu and exports rose 9.5% to 119,083 teu, while empty containers moved through the port increased 24.5% to 332,250 teu during November this year.
Meanwhile the Port of LA handled 884,315 teu in November, a 16% increase over the previous year.
The handled 458,165 teu of imports, a 19% increase compared to the previous year, 124,117 teu of exports up 11%, and 302,033 teu of empty containers up 12% year-on-year.
Both ports have experienced strong volume growth this year setting them up to near 20 million teu in combined container handling in 2024.
The Port of Long Beach handled 8.79 million in the first 11 months of 2024, up 20.2% from the same period last year. The Port of Los Angeles moved 9.38 million teu in the first 11 months of 2024 up 19% on the previous year.
“We are well on pace to exceed 10 million container units for only the second time in our 117-year history,” said Port of Los Angeles Executive Director Gene Seroka.
The Port of Long Beach expects to handle 9.6 million teu for 2024 as a whole.
“Imports are being driven by strong consumer demand while retailers continue to move cargo here out of concern for labour negotiations at ports on the East and Gulf coasts,” commented Port of Long Beach CEO Mario Cordero. “We will continue to handle this influx of cargo smoothly and with zero disruptions through the end of 2024.
