The Port of Los Angeles handled 960,597 TEU in August 2024, a 16% increase year-on-year and just over 20,000 TEU more than the port handled in July 2024. Los Angeles handled more containers, but its growth rate in August was not as spectacular as Long Beach, which saw its box numbers spike 33.9% year on the year to 913,873 TEU.

The San Pedro Harbour Ports are clearly benefitting from front-loading of seasonal cargo and cargo diversion from east and gulf coast ports as the threat of a strike by the International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) continues. Trying to quantify exactly how much cargo is being diverted, however, is a much more difficult task.

For the port’s August results briefing Los Angeles Executive Director Gene Seroka was joined by George Goldman, President and CEO of the North America Division of CMA CGM. Both executives said cargo diversion is not something that they can measure directly.

Goldman pointed out that as a shipping line CMA CGM does not decide what port to book cargo for. This is the responsibility of the shipper and their supply chain providers. CMA CGM has not itself ‘diverted’ any vessels by routing any particular service away from the east or gulf coasts.

However, over the last two months the ILA has ratcheted up its strike threats and shippers have clearly responded by booking more cargo on services through west coast gateways. Los Angeles has seen a bigger import surge than it was expecting. At the port’s briefing in mid-August Seroka said Los Angeles was forecasting container volume would come in around 825,000 TEU for the month, well below the 960,597 TEU it processed in the final count. Port and liner executives are being careful not to say too much, but cargo diversion is greater than they are letting on.

Reflecting on the August result Seroka said the port is experiencing a “strong and sustained” peak season and he expects this will continue before volume growth tapers off in Q4. Los Angeles is now forecasting it will handle over 900,000 TEU again in September. In the first week of September terminal operators had deployed 60 gangs to work vessels at the port, and vessel data showed 72 ships were currently sailing to Los Angeles.

Los Angeles can handle more cargo, Seroka stressed. The port has previously planned around its monthly maximum capacity being in the region of 1m TEU. With the lessons learned in the pandemic and making better use of data from the port’s Port Optimizer portal Seroka is confident that can be pushed to 1.2m TEU. The only operational metric that has concerned Seroka at the last few monthly results briefings is rail dwell time.

Another side effect of both cargo diversion and front loading imports is to upset the circulation of shipping containers in the supply chain. The industry saw during the pandemic how importers planning around potential disruptions end up using containers to store inventory for long periods. This had knock-on impacts including lines being reluctant to make empties available to US exporters, and depots and other facilities that handle empty containers being overwhelmed at times.

Goldman said CMA CMG strives to “balance the network” and he does not see unusual disruptions to the flow of empties at this point. Seroka added that Los Angeles has continued to load high numbers of empty containers for return to Asia. The port monitors the “cadence and velocity” of containers through the supply chain and “it looks in good order”, Seroka concluded.

The Port of Los Angeles handled 960,597 TEU in August 2024, a 16% increase year-on-year and just over 20,000 TEU more than the port handled in July 2024. Los Angeles handled more containers, but its growth rate in August was not as spectacular as Long Beach, which saw its box numbers spike 33.9% year on the year to 913,873 TEU.

The San Pedro Harbour Ports are clearly benefitting from front-loading of seasonal cargo and cargo diversion from east and gulf coast ports as the threat of a strike by the International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) continues. Trying to quantify exactly how much cargo is being diverted, however, is a much more difficult task.

For the port’s August results briefing Los Angeles Executive Director Gene Seroka was joined by George Goldman, President and CEO of the North America Division of CMA CGM. Both executives said cargo diversion is not something that they can measure directly.

Goldman pointed out that as a shipping line CMA CGM does not decide what port to book cargo for. This is the responsibility of the shipper and their supply chain providers. CMA CGM has not itself ‘diverted’ any vessels by routing any particular service away from the east or gulf coasts.

However, over the last two months the ILA has ratcheted up its strike threats and shippers have clearly responded by booking more cargo on services through west coast gateways. Los Angeles has seen a bigger import surge than it was expecting. At the port’s briefing in mid-August Seroka said Los Angeles was forecasting container volume would come in around 825,000 TEU for the month, well below the 960,597 TEU it processed in the final count. Port and liner executives are being careful not to say too much, but cargo diversion is greater than they are letting on.

Reflecting on the August result Seroka said the port is experiencing a “strong and sustained” peak season and he expects this will continue before volume growth tapers off in Q4. Los Angeles is now forecasting it will handle over 900,000 TEU again in September. In the first week of September terminal operators had deployed 60 gangs to work vessels at the port, and vessel data showed 72 ships were currently sailing to Los Angeles.

Los Angeles can handle more cargo, Seroka stressed. The port has previously planned around its monthly maximum capacity being in the region of 1m TEU. With the lessons learned in the pandemic and making better use of data from the port’s Port Optimizer portal Seroka is confident that can be pushed to 1.2m TEU. The only operational metric that has concerned Seroka at the last few monthly results briefings is rail dwell time.

Another side effect of both cargo diversion and front loading imports is to upset the circulation of shipping containers in the supply chain. The industry saw during the pandemic how importers planning around potential disruptions end up using containers to store inventory for long periods. This had knock-on impacts including lines being reluctant to make empties available to US exporters, and depots and other facilities that handle empty containers being overwhelmed at times.

Goldman said CMA CMG strives to “balance the network” and he does not see unusual disruptions to the flow of empties at this point. Seroka added that Los Angeles has continued to load high numbers of empty containers for return to Asia. The port monitors the “cadence and velocity” of containers through the supply chain and “it looks in good order”, Seroka concluded.