The yearlong historic cargo surge continued in June, with the Port of Los Angeles setting yet another record by bringing in 876,430 container units, a 26.8% increase over the same month last year.
That fell short of the 1 million twenty-foot equivalent units — or TEUs, the maritime industry’s standard for counting cargo containers of varying lengths — that flooded the port in May, a record number for any port in the Western Hemisphere.
The neighboring Port of Long Beach also saw strong June numbers — 20.3% higher than in 2020 — but officials there said volume has begun leveling off as coronavirus-related restrictions nationwide begin to be lifted. In California, most restrictions went away June 15.
But Port of Los Angeles Executive Director Gene Seroka, speaking Wednesday, July 14, at his monthly virtual news briefing, said there has been essentially “no lull” in the action there, with the 114-year-old port setting an all-time June record.
And the strong monthly numbers could continue in July. In May, a COVID-19 outbreak in southern China put ports there at 50% operating capacity, Seroka said. That had a ripple effect on the Port of L.A., which gets about a third of its incoming shipments from that region.
Those ports, however, returned to full operation by late June, Seroka said, “which means more ships are coming.”
The shipping industry’s traditional peak season is also nearly here.
Back-to-school and holiday shipments start surging in late summer and fall, as stores prepare for a shopping blitz ahead of those two popular retail milestones. That means, Seroka said, the port is on track for a strong rest of 2021, with July and August numbers looking to be headed into the 900,000-plus TEU range. July alone, he said, could see the port process 950,000 TEUs.
“The cargo outlook remains solid for the back half of 2021,” Seroka said.
It continues to be, he added, a “remarkable run.”
Last month’s numbers, when compared to previous years, were strong even beyond 2020 — when the pandemic first crashed cargo and then, in the second half of the year, led to a boom as shopping habits shifted online. The most-recent monthly figures outpaced pre-pandemic June 2019 by 12% and marked the 11th consecutive month of cargo increases at the Los Angeles port.
In June, the port also celebrated moving 10 million cargo during the 2020-21 fiscal year, which recently ended. The LA port became the first in the Western Hemisphere to hit that number over over the course of 12 months.
The surge, however, continues to bring supply chain challenges. Warehouses are “filled to the rafters,” Seroka said, and truck and rail services are struggling to keep up, making it difficult to lessen dwell times at terminals.
Longshore crews work an average of 15 vessels a day, Seroka said. Before the pandemic, that daily average was 10.
Another challenge is that exports, Seroka said, continue falling — a worrisome trend.
The port, for example, exported 96,067 TEUs in June, a 12.3% drop from the same month last year — and the lowest Los Angeles has seen since 2005.
Exports have been down in 28 of the last 32 months, Seroka said. Weak exports create a challenge for port workers trying to manage empty containers that need to be turned around and moved quickly to send back to Asia for refilling or to rural areas in the U.S. so they can be used for agricultural exports.
“Exports are really weak,” Seroka said.
But consumer spending, he said, remains high — with online sales doubling in just the past year.
“Even as Americans return to airline travel, vacations, and in-person events,” Seroka said, “retail sales and e-commerce remain robust.”
And that’s all contributed to giving the port a landmark fiscal year.
“The past 12 months have been like a peak season on auto repeat,” Seroka said.
“All signs point to a robust second half of the year,” he added, “which is good news for the nearly 1 million residents in the region who have jobs tied to the San Pedro Bay port complex.”
