July 2024 TEUs
July 2024 Inbound Loaded
| Port | July 2024 | July 2023 | July 2019 | Change from 2023 | Change from 2019 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Los Angeles | 501,281 | 364,208 | 476,438 | 37.6% | 5.2% |
| Long Beach | 435,081 | 271,086 | 313,350 | 60.5% | 38.8% |
| San Pedro Bay Total | 936,362 | 635,294 | 789,788 | 47.4% | 18.6% |
| Oakland | 80,135 | 78,122 | 90,598 | 2.6% | -11.5% |
| NWSA | 110,304 | 88,684 | 122,946 | 24.4% | -10.3% |
| Hueneme | 8,966 | 8,638 | 4,378 | 3.8% | 104.8% |
| San Diego | 5,618 | 7,126 | 5,195 | -21.2% | -2.0% |
| USWC Total | 1,141,385 | 817,864 | 1,012,905 | 39.6% | 8.1% |
| Boston | 11,652 | 11,277 | 12,714 | 3.3% | -8.4% |
| NYNJ | 422,212 | 372,139 | 336,972 | 13.5% | 25.3% |
| Philadelphia | 39,153 | 29,983 | 30,112 | 30.6% | 30.0% |
| Maryland | 19,828 | 48,487 | 48,806 | -59.1% | -59.4% |
| Virginia | 146,926 | 141,575 | 125,260 | 3.8% | 17.3% |
| South Carolina | 114,434 | 107,777 | 92,707 | 6.2% | 23.4% |
| Georgia | 245,289 | 230,225 | 197,341 | 6.5% | 24.3% |
| Jaxport | 29,610 | 24,221 | 32,505 | 22.2% | -8.9% |
| Port Everglades | 28,713 | 25,713 | 25,801 | 11.7% | 11.3% |
| Port Miami | 45,048 | 44,206 | 38,229 | 1.9% | 17.8% |
| USEC Total | 1,102,865 | 1,035,603 | 940,447 | 6.5% | 17.3% |
| New Orleans | 8,903 | 11,202 | 12,315 | -20.5% | -27.7% |
| Houston | 157,565 | 166,151 | 111,062 | -5.2% | 41.9% |
| USGC Total | 166,468 | 177,353 | 123,377 | -6.1% | 34.9% |
| Vancouver | 169,164 | 115,701 | 162,908 | 46.2% | 3.8% |
| Prince Rupert | 33,744 | 27,628 | 66,277 | 22.1% | -49.1% |
| British Columbia Total | 202,908 | 143,329 | 229,185 | 41.6% | -11.5% |
| Lazaro Cardenas | 72,163 | 80,957 | 56,748 | -10.9% | 27.2% |
| Manzanillo | 151,831 | 148,041 | 115,882 | 2.6% | 31.0% |
| Mexico Pacific Coast Total | 223,994 | 228,998 | 172,630 | -2.2% | 29.8% |
| U.S. Ports Total | 2,410,718 | 2,030,820 | 2,076,729 | 18.7% | 16.1% |
July 2024 Outbound Loaded
| Port | July 2024 | July 2023 | July 2019 | Change from 2023 | Change from 2019 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Los Angeles | 114,889 | 110,372 | 161,340 | 4.1% | -28.8% |
| Long Beach | 104,834 | 90,134 | 111,654 | 16.3% | -6.1% |
| San Pedro Bay Total | 219,723 | 200,506 | 272,994 | 9.6% | -19.5% |
| Oakland | 59,362 | 58,019 | 76,414 | 2.3% | -22.3% |
| NWSA | 36,940 | 37,598 | 73,828 | -1.8% | -50.0% |
| Hueneme | 1,934 | 1,835 | 1,094 | 5.4% | 76.8% |
| San Diego | 436 | 712 | 308 | -38.8% | 41.6% |
| USWC Total | 318,395 | 298,670 | 424,638 | 6.6% | -25.0% |
| Boston | 4,554 | 4,827 | 6,418 | -5.7% | -29.0% |
| NYNJ | 112,175 | 100,195 | 118,015 | 12.0% | -4.9% |
| Philadelphia | 6,375 | 6,301 | 7,091 | 1.2% | -10.1% |
| Maryland | 12,593 | 18,190 | 19,175 | -30.8% | -34.3% |
| Virginia | 92,564 | 88,942 | 80,855 | 4.1% | 14.5% |
| South Carolina | 51,729 | 53,827 | 72,126 | -3.9% | -28.3% |
| Georgia | 113,878 | 105,640 | 117,790 | 7.8% | -3.3% |
| Jaxport | 43,533 | 40,140 | 41,165 | 8.5% | 5.8% |
| Port Everglades | 34,755 | 31,513 | 34,328 | 10.3% | 1.2% |
| Port Miami | 22,327 | 23,474 | 34,304 | -4.9% | -34.9% |
| USEC Total | 494,483 | 473,049 | 531,267 | 4.5% | -6.9% |
| New Orleans | 16,553 | 21,405 | 25,021 | -22.7% | -33.8% |
| Houston | 112,607 | 117,652 | 104,470 | -4.3% | 7.8% |
| USGC Total | 129,160 | 139,057 | 129,491 | -7.1% | -0.3% |
| Vancouver | 60,745 | 36,407 | 91,521 | 66.8% | -33.6% |
| Prince Rupert | 10,965 | 7,690 | 15,397 | 42.6% | -28.8% |
| British Columbia Total | 71,710 | 44,097 | 106,918 | 62.6% | -32.9% |
| Lazaro Cardenas | 5,802 | 19,284 | 20,726 | -69.9% | -72.0% |
| Manzanillo | 23,955 | 57,114 | 65,421 | -58.1% | -63.4% |
| Mexico Pacific Coast Total | 29,757 | 76,398 | 86,147 | -61.1% | -65.5% |
| U.S. Ports Total | 942,038 | 910,776 | 1,085,396 | 3.4% | -13.2% |
July 2024 Year-to-Date TEUs
| Port | July 2024 | July 2023 | July 2019 | Change from 2023 | Change from 2019 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Los Angeles | 5,671,091 | 4,821,670 | 5,450,793 | 17.6% | 4.0% |
| Long Beach | 5,174,002 | 4,310,925 | 4,307,415 | 20.0% | 20.1% |
| NYNJ | 5,016,626 | 4,465,823 | 4,315,835 | 12.3% | 16.2% |
| Georgia | 3,190,252 | 2,822,996 | 2,639,252 | 13.0% | 20.9% |
| Houston | 2,423,474 | 2,202,538 | 1,721,402 | 10.0% | 40.8% |
| Manzanillo | 2,266,590 | 2,066,085 | 1,778,029 | 9.7% | 27.5% |
| Virginia | 2,100,151 | 1,878,651 | 1,720,012 | 11.8% | 22.1% |
| Vancouver | 2,076,769 | 1,752,415 | 1,996,551 | 18.5% | 4.0% |
| NWSA | 1,822,489 | 1,631,449 | 2,241,765 | 11.7% | -18.7% |
| South Carolina | 1,464,983 | 1,423,892 | 1,417,959 | 2.9% | 3.3% |
| Lazaro Cardenas | 1,350,083 | 1,002,457 | 784,142 | 34.7% | 72.2% |
| Oakland | 1,320,245 | 1,193,709 | 1,473,175 | 10.6% | -10.4% |
| Montreal | 867,883 | 884,180 | 1,010,537 | -1.8% | -14.1% |
| JaxPort | 783,579 | 738,471 | 785,789 | 6.1% | -0.3% |
| Port Everglades | 640,964 | 592,853 | 603,061 | 4.3% | 3.4% |
| Port Miami | 637,870 | 639,709 | 659,380 | -0.3% | -3.3% |
| Philadelphia | 496,285 | 408,560 | 353,640 | 21.5% | 40.3% |
| Prince Rupert | 468,944 | 430,904 | 659,398 | 8.8% | -28.9% |
| Maryland | 333,181 | 643,670 | 635,058 | -48.2% | -47.5% |
| New Orleans | 294,998 | 282,298 | 370,890 | 4.5% | -20.5% |
| Boston | 152,467 | 131,225 | 172,523 | 16.2% | -11.6% |
| Hueneme | 138,523 | 145,049 | 74,226 | -4.5% | 86.6% |
| San Diego | 84,628 | 92,618 | 82,958 | -8.6% | 2.0% |
| Portland, Oregon | 54,812 | 74,017 | 20 | -25.9% | ∞ |
| U.S. Ports Total | 31,800,620 | 28,500,123 | 29,025,153 | 11.6% | 9.6% |
For the Record: Complete and Final July 2024 Container Statistics
Exhibits 1-3 display the July 2024 TEU numbers for the ports we monitor. Note that not all ports distinguish between loaded and empty containers. So not all of the 25 ports we track appear in Exhibits 1 and 2.
U.S. West Coast ports handled 47.3% of all inbound loads at mainland U.S. ports in July, up briskly from a 30.7% share a year ago. USWC ports’ share of outbound loads departing the nation’s mainland ports in July amounted to 33.8%, up from 32.8% in July 2023. Year-to-date, the 13,987,827 loaded and empty TEUs that passed through the Big Five USWC ports represented 44.0% of all container traffic at mainland U.S. ports through the first seven months of 2024.
The Port of Los Angeles had a very active July, with inbound loads totaling 501,281 TEUs, up 37.6% from a year earlier and 5.2% higher over pre-pandemic July 2019. Outbound loads (114,889) were up 4.1% year-over-year but remained down 28.8% from July 2019. Total year-to-date container moves through the San Pedro Bay gateway through July (5,671,091) represented a 4.0% gain over the first seven months of 2019.
At the Port of Long Beach, inbound loads (435,081) surged by 60.5% from the previous July and by a whopping 38.8% over July 2019. Outbound loads (104,834) were up 16.3% year-over-year but were still 6.1% short of the 111,654 outbound loads the port reported in July 2019. Total container traffic through the port YTD through July (5,174,002) was up 20.0% year-over-year as well as up 20.1% over the same period in 2019.
Collectively, the two San Pedro Bay ports recorded an imposing 47.4% year-over-year bounce in inbound loads in July to 936,362 TEUs from 635,294 a year earlier. Outbound loads in July (219,723) saw a noteworthy 9.6% gain from a year earlier. Total container moves through the two ports YTD (10,845,093) were up 11.1% over the first seven months of 2019.
The San Francisco Bay Area’s Port of Oakland handled 80,135 inbound loads in July, a modest 2.6% gain over a year earlier. July’s volume was also down 11.5% from the 90,598 inbound loads the port had discharged in July 2019. Outbound loads at the Northern California gateway (59,362) were up modestly by 2.3% year-over-year but down 22.3% from July 2019. Total container traffic through the port so far this year (1,320,245) was 10.4% below the volume recorded in the first seven months of 2019.
Up in Washington State, the Northwest Seaport Alliance Ports of Tacoma and Seattle discharged 110,304 inbound loads in July, up 24.4% year-over-year but down 10.3% from the volume recorded in July 2019. Outbound loads in July (36,940) were off by 1.8% from a year earlier and fully half the volume the ports handled in July 2019. Total container moves YTD (1.822,489) were down by 18.7% from the same period in 2019.
North of the border, year-over-year comparisons between this July and July 2023 would be misleading given that a strike by longshore workers suppressed traffic through the ports of British Columbia for several days last July. For the record, though, the Port of Vancouver handled 169,164inbound loads in July, up 3.8% over July 2019. Outbound loads (60,745) were down by 33.6% from July 2019. Total container traffic through Canada’s largest port through the first seven months of 2024 (2.076,769) was up 4.0% from five years earlier.
At North America’s northernmost Pacific Coast port, the Port of Prince Rupert, the 33,744 inbound loads in July represented a 22.1% increase over-a-year earlier but remained well shy of the 66,277 inbound loads the port had handled in July 2019. Outbound loads (10,965) jumped 42.6% over July 2023 but well below the 15,397 TEUs that sailed from the port five years earlier. Total container traffic YTD amounted to 468,944 TEUs, up 8.8% from the preceding July but far below the 659,398 TEUs the port had handled in the first half of 2019.
Back East, the Port of New York/New Jersey handled 422,212 inbound loads in July, a 13.5% bump over the same month a year ago and a 25.3% gain over July 2019. Outbound loads (112,175) this July were up 12.0% over a year earlier but were down 4.9% from July 2019. Total container traffic YTD through the East Coast’s busiest port (5,016,626) was up 16.2% from the same months in 2019.
Further south along the Atlantic Seaboard, the Port of Virginia posted a modest 3.8% year-over-year increase in inbound loads to 146,926 TEUs, its highest volume in July since 2022. The gain in inbound loads was 17.3% over July 2019. Outbound loads (92,564) at the Mid-Atlantic gateway were the fewest of any month this year but the most of any previous July. Still, this July’s outbound volume was up 14.5% from July 2019. Total YTD container traffic through the port (2,100,151) was 22.1% higher than in the same period five years ago.
Meanwhile, the Port of Charleston continues to see surprisingly meager growth in its overall container numbers. To be sure, inbound loads in July (114,434) were up 6.2% year-over-year, but outbound loads (51,729) were down 3.9% from a year ago. Total container traffic YTD (1,464,983) was up just 2.9% from the same period a year earlier and was only 3.3% more than the 1,417,959 total TEUs the South Carolina port handled back in the first seven months of 2019.
July saw the Port of Savannah discharge 245,289 inbound loads, up 6.5% year-over-year and 24.3% higher than the volume handled at this point in 2019. Outbound loads (113,878) were up 7.8% from the preceding July but were down 3.3% from July 2019. So far this year, the Georgia port has handled a total of 3,190,252 loads and empties, 20.9% more than the first seven months of 2019.
Along the Gulf Coast, Port Houston saw the arrival of 157,565 laden TEUs in July, down 5.2% from a year earlier but up 41.9% from July 2019. Outbound loads in July (112,607) were off by 4.3% year-over-year but up 7.8% from July 2019. The Texas port handled 2,423,474 loads and empties in this calendar year through July, a 10.0% bump over last year and a 40.8% gain over the same period in 2019.
USWC Ports Shares of Worldwide U.S. Mainland Container Trade
Shares of U.S. Mainland Ports Containerized Import Tonnage
| July 2024 | July 2023 | July 2019 | July 2014 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| USWC | 38.8% | 32.7% | 38.4% | 42.8% |
| LA/LB | 29.7% | 23.7% | 27.5% | 31.0% |
| Oakland | 3.0% | 3.5% | 4.2% | 4.1% |
| NWSA | 4.7% | 3.9% | 5.2% | 6.0% |
Shares of U.S. Mainland Ports Containerized Import Value
| July 2024 | July 2023 | July 2019 | July 2014 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| USWC | 42.8% | 38.5% | 47.0% | 48.8% |
| LA/LB | 34.1% | 29.5% | 35.8% | 38.1% |
| Oakland | 2.8% | 3.1% | 3.7% | 3.6% |
| NWSA | 5.3% | 4.8% | 6.9% | 6.3% |
Shares of U.S. Mainland Containerized Export Tonnage
| July 2024 | July 2023 | July 2019 | July 2014 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| USWC | 32.8% | 30.3% | 35.8% | 40.4% |
| LA/LB | 19.8% | 19.2% | 20.7% | 24.0% |
| Oakland | 5.9% | 5.2% | 5.9% | 5.6% |
| NWSA | 5.9% | 5.1% | 7.7% | 9.2% |
Shares of U.S. Mainland Containerized Export Value
| July 2024 | July 2023 | July 2019 | July 2014 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| USWC | 26.8% | 26.4% | 31.7% | 33.8% |
| LA/LB | 17.6% | 17.7% | 20.5% | 22.8% |
| Oakland | 5.4% | 5.3% | 6.2% | 5.2% |
| NWSA | 3.2% | 2.9% | 4.4% | 5.1% |
Major USWC Ports' Shares of U.S. Container Trade with East Asia
Shares of U.S. Mainland Ports Containerized Import Tonnage
| July 2024 | July 2023 | July 2019 | July 2014 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| USWC | 56.5% | 48.6% | 57.8% | 64.0% |
| LA/LB | 45.4% | 37.7% | 44.9% | 48.7% |
| Oakland | 3.3% | 3.8% | 4.5% | 4.4% |
| NWSA | 7.1% | 5.9% | 7.6% | 9.1% |
Shares of U.S. Mainland Ports Containerized Import Value
| July 2024 | July 2023 | July 2019 | July 2014 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| USWC | 64.0% | 57.0% | 67.1% | 69.6% |
| LA/LB | 52.1% | 45.0% | 52.6% | 55.6% |
| Oakland | 3.3% | 3.5% | 4.1% | 3.9% |
| NWSA | 8.0% | 7.1% | 9.9% | 9.2% |
Shares of U.S. Mainland Containerized Export Tonnage
| July 2024 | July 2023 | July 2019 | July 2014 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| USWC | 55.2% | 49.9% | 58.5% | 65.6% |
| LA/LB | 34.8% | 31.8% | 36.1% | 41.1% |
| Oakland | 9.1% | 7.8% | 9.2% | 8.3% |
| NWSA | 10.5% | 9.0% | 13.1% | 14.5% |
Shares of U.S. Mainland Containerized Export Value
| July 2024 | July 2023 | July 2019 | July 2014 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| USWC | 54.6% | 54.1% | 62.4% | 66.6% |
| LA/LB | 37.1% | 36.6% | 41.6% | 45.9% |
| Oakland | 10.1% | 10.0% | 11.1% | 9.2% |
| NWSA | 7.0% | 6.9% | 9.1% | 10.6% |
Weights and Values: Alternative Metrics
Exhibit 4 and Exhibit 5 display the U.S. West Coast ports’ shares of the nation’s containerized trade through the mainland U.S. ports against which USWC ports compete for discretionary cargo. These July 2024 data are derived from import/export documents shippers file with U.S. Customs and Border Protection. For a broader perspective, we compare the most recent month for which data are available with the same month in the preceding year, in pre-pandemic 2019, and a decade earlier. For those who are inclined to add up the numbers, the USWC totals in these two exhibits include international container traffic moving through smaller West Coast ports like San Diego, Hueneme, and Everett in addition to the container figures from the USWC Big Five ports.
The numbers here confirm a decided shift of U.S. containerized trade back toward America’s West Coast ports. However, we warn that these recent gains in market share by USWC ports are likely to dissipate once the threat of a dockworkers strike along the East and Gulf Coast is lifted and once the Houthi blockade of the Suez Canal is neutralized. Given shifts in worldwide manufacturing, volumes right now could represent a highwater mark for the USWC ports’ shares of the nation’s containerized maritime trade.
Exhibit 4 shows a substantial year-over-year boost in the USWC share of all containerized import tonnage flowing into mainland U.S. ports in July. All the major USWC ports except Oakland saw significant increases in their shares of containerized import tonnage and dollar values. The Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach actually exceeded the share they held in pre-pandemic July 2019. On the export side of the trade ledger, all five major USWC ports saw a year-over-year bump in their shares of containerized export tonnage from last July. Interestingly, the San Pedro Bay ports’ share of the dollar value of containerized exports slipped slightly from a year earlier, even as their share of export tonnage rose.
Exhibit 5 focuses on the USWC shares of U.S. containerized trade involving trading partners in East Asia. Again, the numbers indicate that the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach are capturing substantially bigger shares of containerized imports from East Asia. Oakland was the exception, seeing its shares decline from last year. The NWSA ports saw their import shares increase. As for containerized exports to East Asia, all the five major USWC gateways grew their tonnage and value shares from a year earlier.