September 2024 TEUs

Facts and FiguresPort VolumesMaritime Operations

Nov 21

September Inbound Loaded | September Outbound Loaded | September YTD | USWC Shares Mainland Ports | USWC Shares East Asia

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September 2024 Inbound Loaded

   PortSeptember 2024September 2023September 2019 Change from 2023 Change from 2019
Los Angeles 497,803  392,608  402,320 26.8%23.7%
Long Beach 416,999  408,926  354,919 2.0%17.5%
San Pedro Bay Total 914,802  801,534  757,239 14.1%20.8%
Oakland 82,180  74,428  84,906 10.4%-3.2%
NWSA 135,841  134,642  131,451 0.9%3.3%
Hueneme 8,644  9,420  3,117 -8.2%177.3%
San Diego 7,606  5,928  6,902 28.3%10.2%
USWC Total 1,149,073  1,025,952  983,615 12.0%16.8%
Boston 11,566  9,317  11,608 24.1%-0.4%
NYNJ381,440 339,033  315,866 12.5%20.8%
Philadelphia 33,623  31,749  25,943 5.9%29.6%
Maryland 42,751  45,112  45,026 -5.2%-5.1%
Virginia 145,548  130,073  114,643 11.9%27.0%
South Carolina 111,317  97,331  90,111 14.4%23.5%
Georgia 234,629  199,892  183,466 17.4%27.9%
Jaxport 28,454  28,276  27,309 0.6%4.2%
Port Everglades 34,437  25,692  25,594 34.0%34.6%
USEC Total ex PNYNJ 642,325  906,475  839,566 13.2%22.7%
New Orleans 8,870  9,130  11,225 -2.8%-21.0%
Houston 162,338  156,161  106,270 4.0%52.8%
USGC 171,208  165,291  117,495 3.6%45.7%
Vancouver 152,225  139,343  156,289 9.2%-2.6%
Prince Rupert 30,223  30,028  63,970 0.6%-52.8%
British Columbia Total 182,448  169,371  220,259 7.7%-17.2%
Lazaro Cardenas 61,226  91,827  59,677 -33.3%2.6%
Manzanillo 135,301  153,039  112,628 -11.6%20.1%
Mexico Pacific Coast 196,527  244,866  172,305 -19.7%14.1%
U.S. Port Totals2,344,046 2,097,728 1,940,67611.7%21%

September 2024 Outbound Loaded

   PortSeptember 2024September 2023September 2019 Change from 2023 Change from 2019
Los Angeles 114,702  120,635  130,769 -4.9%-12.3%
Long Beach 88,289  101,248  123,215 -12.8%-28.3%
San Pedro Bay Total 202,991  221,883  253,984 -8.5%-20.1%
Oakland 61,466  59,757  72,058 2.9%-14.7%
NWSA 57,275  61,867  82,148 -7.4%-30.3%
Hueneme 1,636  1,716  779 -4.7%110.0%
San Diego 654  500  706 30.8%-7.4%
USWC Total 324,022  345,723  409,675 -6.3%-20.9%
Boston 4,849  4,916  6,892 -1.4%-29.6%
NYNJ118,632 100,379  116,231 18.2%2.1%
Philadelphia 7,188  6,650  6,052 8.1%18.8%
Maryland 13,643  17,208  20,320 -20.7%-32.9%
Virginia 95,478  81,515  71,561 17.1%33.4%
South Carolina 53,368  56,296  61,494 -5.2%-13.2%
Georgia 101,728  111,530  107,972 -8.8%-5.8%
Jaxport 38,957  45,044  37,470 -13.5%4.0%
Port Everglades 36,906  32,210  35,404 14.6%4.2%
USEC Total ex PNYNJ 352,117  455,748  463,396 -0.9%1.4%
New Orleans 19,374  18,496  25,049 4.7%-22.7%
Houston 114,299  124,739  102,309 -8.4%11.7%
USGC Total 133,673  143,235  127,358 -6.7%5.0%
Vancouver 69,566  64,192  90,304 8.4%-23.0%
Prince Rupert 11,408  11,561  13,370 -1.3%-14.7%
British Columbia Total 80,974  75,753  103,674 6.9%21.9%
Lazaro Cardenas 3,562  20,885  18,970 -82.9%-81.2%
Manzanillo 24,717  50,951  61,167 -51.5%-59.6%
Mexico Pacific Coast Total  28,279  71,836  80,137 -60.6%-64.7%
U.S. Port Totals928,444 944,7061,000,429-1.7%-7.2%

September 2024 Year-to-Date TEUs

   PortSeptember 2024September 2023September 2019 Change from 2023 Change from 2019
Los Angeles 7,586,395  6,398,126  7,091,777 18.6%7.0%
Long Beach 6,917,273  5,822,666  5,678,362 18.8%21.8%
NYNJ6,586,947 5,789,116  5,620,381 13.8%17.2%
Georgia 4,131,009  3,639,216  3,446,998 13.5%19.8%
Houston 3,120,509  2,835,750  2,232,036 10.0%39.8%
Manzanillo 2,911,798  2,728,653  2,318,328 6.7%25.6%
Virginia 2,707,653  2,436,862  2,219,103 11.1%22.0%
NWSA 2,472,421  2,205,833  2,909,607 12.1%-15.0%
Vancouver 2,380,129  2,292,634  2,596,151 3.8%-8.3%
South Carolina 1,878,574  1,836,268  1,846,017 2.3%1.8%
Lazaro Cardenas 1,764,679  1,371,586  1,018,811 28.7%73.2%
Oakland 1,704,977  1,544,692  1,904,257 10.4%-10.5%
Montreal 1,112,486  1,137,637  1,305,180 -2.2%-14.8%
JaxPort 1,010,394  968,320  1,001,024 10.7%0.9%
Port Everglades 831,873  751,740  771,541 10.7%7.8%
Philadelphia 639,455  554,256  459,172 15.4%39.3%
Prince Rupert 593,666  544,074  896,459 9.1%-33.8%
Maryland 487,508  836,577  818,707 -41.7%-40.5%
New Orleans 377,880  360,344  480,493 4.9%-21.4%
Boston 192,208  174,472  224,487 10.2%-14.4%
Hueneme 181,867  184,669  90,596 -1.5%100.7%
San Diego 111,055  116,410  107,576 -4.6%3.2%
Portland, Oregon 71,795  92,128 26-22.1%∞
U.S. Port Totals41,009,79336,547,44536,902,16012.2%11.1%

September 2024 Container Traffic at Major North American Ports

At Southern California’s Port of Long Beach, inbound loads in September (416,999 TEUs) were up just 2.0% from a year earlier, a remarkably small gain given the growth at the Port of Los Angeles in the same month and the threatened strike at ports along the East and Gulf Coasts that was due to start on September 30. Similarly, total container traffic this September (829,499) was up a mere 70 TEUs from the previous September. Outbound loads (88,289) were down by 12.8% from last September. This is in contrast to the growth of total container traffic through the port in this year’s first nine months (6,917,373), which represented a 21.8% increase in total volume over the same period in 2019.

The adjacent Port of Los Angeles processed 497,803 inbound loads in September, a 26.8% year-over-year jump that was more consistent with the industry narrative that shippers had been pre-emptively shifting cargo away from strike-imperiled East and Gulf Coast ports. During the third quarter, the port handled 1,508,447 inbound loads, the most in any third quarter in the port’s history. Outbound loads (114,702) were down 4.9% from a year earlier and 12.3% below the volume of outbound loads in September 2019. Total container traffic YTD through America’s busiest seaport (7,586,395) was up 7.0% from the same period in 2019.

Moving up the West Coast, the Port of Oakland handled 82,180 inbound loads in the year’s ninth month, a 10.4% bump over the same month last year but still 3.2% shy of pre-pandemic September of 2019. 61,466 outbound loads shipped from the San Francisco Bay Area gateway in September, a year-over-year gain of 2.9%. Still, this September’s outbound volume was down 14.7% from September 2019. Total container traffic through the port (loads and empties) through the first nine months of the year amounted to 1,704,977 TEUs, 10.5% below the volume handled in the same period in 2019.

Further up the coast, at the Northwest Seaport Alliance Ports of Tacoma and Seattle, the 135,841 loaded import TEUs handled by the two ports were just 0.9% more than the ports had handled in September 2023, while export loads (57,275) were down 7.4% year-over-year and also down 30.3% from the 82,148 export loads the NWSA ports handled in September 2019. Total container traffic so far this year (2,472,421) was up 0.9% from a year earlier but down 15.0% from the volume recorded in the same nine-month period in 2019.

Across the border in British Columbia, the Port of Vancouver discharged 152,225 inbound loads in September, a 9.2% year-over-year gain but down 2.6% from the same month in 2019. Outbound loads this September (69,566) were up 8.4% from a year earlier but remained 23.0% shy of the volume achieved in September 2019. Total container moves YTD through Canada’s largest seaport (2,380,129) were off by 8.3% from the same period in 2019.

Back East, the Port of New York/New Jersey (PNYNJ) handled 381,440 inbound loads in September, a healthy 12.5% increase over a year earlier and a 20.8% improvement over September 2019. Outbound loads (118,632) were also up, by 18.2% year-over-year but by just 2.1% over September 2019. Total container traffic YTD through the East Coast's busiest port amounted to 6,586,947 TEUs, an increase of 17.2% over the volume handled during the first three quarters of 2019.

In the Mid-Atlantic region, the Port of Virginia handled 145,548 inbound loads in September, an 11.9% bump over a year earlier perhaps in anticipation of a coastwide strike at the end of September. As it was, this September’s inbound loads were also up 27.0% from September 2019. Outbound loads (95,478) in September were up 17.1% year-over-year and up 33.4% from September 2019. Total container trade through the port YTD (2,707,653) was up 22.0% from the same period in 2019.

The Port of Charleston reported 111,317 inbound loads in September, a 14.4% year-over-year jump and a 23.5% expansion in trade over September 2019. Outbound loads (53,368) were down 5.2% from a year earlier and 13.2% below September 2019. Total container traffic YTD through the South Carolina gateway (1,878,574) was up a slender 1.8% from the same period in 2019.

We interject here the obvious but tentative point that, in a month that was predicted to challenge the competitiveness of East and Gulf Coast ports, the eight Atlantic Coast ports other than PANYNJ that we monitor posted a combined 13.2% year-over-year increase in inbound loads, while the five major USWC ports we track saw a 12.0% increase in inbound loads. Of course, we do not yet have September numbers from PANYNJ or full October statistics, but these numbers offered no clear trend suggesting any permanence to whatever market share pendulum had been swinging in favor of USWC ports earlier this year.

Meanwhile, on the Gulf Coast, September found Port Houston discharging 162,338 inbound loads, a relatively modest 4.0% year-over-year increase but a 52.8% gain over September 2109. Outbound loads at the Texas gateway (114,299) were down 8.4% from a year earlier but up 11.7% over the same month in 2019. Total container traffic through the first three quarters of the year (3,120,509) represented a 39.8% jump over the same period five years ago.

USWC Ports Shares of Worldwide U.S. Mainland Container Trade

Shares of U.S. Mainland Ports Containerized Import Tonnage

September 2024September 2023September 2019September 2014
USWC39.8%36.8%38.5%43.1%
LA/LB30.4%26.7%28.0%32.0%
Oakland3.2%3.2%4.0%4.0%
NWSA4.7%4.8%5.3%5.9%

Shares of U.S. Mainland Ports Containerized Import Value

September 2024September 2023September 2019September 2014
USWC45.6%43.5%47.0%51.5%
LA/LB36.3%33.4%35.5%40.0%
Oakland6.6%3.0%3.9%3.7%
NWSA5.4%6.0%7.0%7.1%

Shares of U.S. Mainland Containerized Export Tonnage

September 2024September 2023September 2019September 2014
USWC31.4%32.2%36.0%39.8%
LA/LB18.6%19.2%20.1%22.2%
Oakland5.7%5.2%6.2%6.4%
NWSA6.4%6.9%8.3%9.5%

Shares of U.S. Mainland Containerized Export Value

Major USWC Ports' Shares of U.S. Container Trade with East Asia