The ascent in cargo volumes for about a year-and-a-half in the San Pedro Bay port complex may be approaching a plateau, with officials projecting an import downturn in the second half of the year thanks to the Trump Administration’s tariffs.
Dockworkers at the Port of Los Angeles moved 778,406 containers in March, while those at the neighboring Port of Long Beach handled 817,457 containers. L.A.’s figures were up 4.7% from March 2024, while Long Beach’s jumped about 25% year-over-year.
The Port of Long Beach had much to celebrate: its more-than 2.53 million containers from January-March mark its busiest first quarter on record and also made it the busiest port in the nation for that part of the year. Its monthly totals have posted gains for 10 straight months.
“We are leading the way as the nation’s busiest port by ensuring the fastest, most efficient delivery of cargo from our docks to anywhere in the United States,” said Port of Long Beach Chief Executive Mario Cordero in a statement. “Our investments in state-of-the art, modern facilities allow us to move record amounts of cargo with maximum efficiency as we continue to deliver the highest standard of customer service.”
On the year, the Port of L.A. is close behind with more than 2.5 million containers handled for the first quarter. This puts it 5.2% ahead of last year’s pace.
“Our volume remained strong throughout the first quarter, and we’ve now seen year-over year growth in 18 of the last 20 months,” Port of L.A. Executive Director Gene Seroka said at his monthly media briefing. “The start of the second quarter looks encouraging as importers begin to plan for spring and summer fashion, as well as back to school.”
Imports were at 385,531 containers for L.A. and 380,562 for Long Beach, while exports were 122,975 containers from L.A. and 104,063 from Long Beach. The remaining sum consists of empty containers going either direction.
Choppy waters may be ahead
Still, with sclerotic messaging and direction on what tariffs are being applied to which countries and even specific imports, cargo movement is primed to stall later this year.
Acknowledging how tariffs and counter-tariffs have dominated news coverage, Seroka said he anticipates cargo movement to drop at least 10% in the second half of the year.
“That’s because many importers have already brought their goods in early, and as prices begin to rise, consumers will think twice about many purchases,” he added.
President Donald Trump’s much ballyhooed tariffs are wide-reaching and global. Though he has repeatedly delayed their full implementation or granted certain exceptions to a variety of countries, China seems to be the exception to whatever mercies he is willing to give. The two superpowers have continued to ramp up import taxes on each other and political rhetoric toward each other, and there are conflicting reports as to whether there are any negotiations ongoing between Washington and Beijing.
Given that China remains a large source of imports for the West Coast, the direction of this trade war is likely to yield a correlating impact here.
Dwell times improve from February
Meanwhile in March, container dwell times – that is, how long offloaded cargo sits idle before being loaded onto railcars or drayage trucks to leave the ports – showed improvement.
Truck-bound cargo remained low at 2.77 days, essentially even with February as well as March 2024. Rail-bound cargo, at 6.75 days, was a significant improvement from eight days in February and just longer than seven days in March 2024.
“We’re encouraged by the positive month-to-month and annual performance trends on rail dwell times, even in the face of high levels of uncertainty in the current intermodal environment,” Natasha Villa, external affairs manager of the Pacific Merchant Shipping Association, said in a statement. “We appreciate the continued efforts of our marine terminals and our rail and trucking partners to keep goods moving smoothly and efficiently throughout the supply chain.”
