Container cargo volume at the Port of Long Beach continued its steady growth in October with a 6.3 percent increase in activity over the same month last year, port officials reported Monday.

While almost 620,000 containers moved through the port last month, import volumes dipped slightly following record-breaking recent months. The number of imported containers slid 0.8 percent to about 308,000, while exports rose 6.5 percent to more than 128,000 containers. Despite the uptick in exported containers, the number of empties returning to overseas ports climbed 20.8 percent.

“We had an early peak in July and August, with much of the inventory for the holiday shopping season coming early,” said Port Chief Executive Jon Slangerup. “Year-to-date, we’re up more than 5 percent, so 2015 is shaping up to be one of our best years ever.”

Over the 10 months of the year, container volume at the port is up 5.4 percent compared to the year-ago period.

Officials with the Port of Los Angeles said they expect to release cargo volume statistics next week.