Consumer spending boosts Port of Oakland’s container volumes

The Port of Oakland‘s February container volume grew, surpassing the 2023 volume for the same month last year.

Full imports rose for the fourth month in a row, recording a 32.1% increase, moving 76,734 TEUs (twenty-foot containers) in February 2024 through Oakland, compared to 58,073 TEUs in February 2023.

Consumer spending remains strong in Northern California, helping to bolster import volume.

Port of Oakland container volume continues to rise

Full exports were up by 24.2%, moving 69,242 TEUs in February 2024, in contrast to 55,279 TEUs in February 2023. This marks the third month in a row that exports have increased. They have reached their highest monthly total since May 2022.

Consumer spending is also high in Asia, which is good news for local exporters shipping their goods through the Oakland Seaport.

In the first two months of this year, combined full TEUs are up 18.1% over the first two months of 2023.

Empty imports dropped 9.8%, with 13,142 TEUs passing through Port facilities in February 2024, in contrast to 17,299 TEUs in February 2023.

Empty exports also dropped 7.2%, handling 23,633 TEUs in February 2024, compared to 38,014 TEUs in February 2023, recording the seventh straight month of decline. This indicates that more containers are returning to Asia loaded with U.S. goods.

“The trends we saw in previous months have continued in February,” said Port of Oakland Maritime Director Bryan Brandes. “Consumer demand remains strong in Northern California & Rocky Mountain states region for imports and in Asia for the region’s exports. We believe that cargo volume will continue to modestly grow for the rest of the year, reversing some of the declines we saw in 2022 and 2023.”

Link to Port of Oakland container volume data