AUGUST CARGO ANOTHER RECORD BREAKER
AT PORT OF LOS ANGELES
SAN PEDRO, Calif. – September 10, 2019 – For the fifth consecutive month, the Port of Los Angeles has set a new single-month cargo record. In August, the Port moved 861,081 Twenty-Foot Equivalent Units (TEUs), the busiest August in the Port’s 112-year history and a 4.2% increase over the same period last year.
Eight months into 2019 overall volumes have increased 5.7% compared to 2018, when the Port set an all-time cargo record.
“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.
The Port of Los Angeles is America’s premier port and has a strong commitment to developing innovative, strategic and sustainable operations that benefit Southern California’s economy and quality of life. North America’s leading seaport by container volume and cargo value, the Port of Los Angeles facilitated $297 billion in trade during 2018. San Pedro Bay port complex operations and commerce facilitate one in nine jobs in the five-county Southern California region.