Los Angeles up 19% in March

The Port of Los Angeles handled 743,417 TEU in March 2024, a 19% increase year-on-year. Of particular note was a 47% increase in loaded exports to 144,718 TEU, making March the Port’s best export month since January 2020, and continuing 10 consecutive months of year-over-year export gains.

The spike in export volume has improved the ports import-export balance to a 2.6 to 1 ratio. Port of Los Angeles Executive Director Gene Seroka noted that this ratio was 6 to 1 in 2021. The port’s goal is to help exporters boost trade to “get closer to a 2 to 1 ratio”, he said.

For Q1 2024 Los Angles has handled 2.38M TEU, a nearly 30% increase on Q1 2023. Q1 2023 started very slowly, but nevertheless Q1 2024 was the port’s third best opening quarter in its history.

Los Angles is expecting April to be another strong month. Seroka said the port is forecasting handling over 700,000 TEU “in the heart of our slack season”. Looking further out, Los Angeles expects a “healthy” summer and peak season, and with its terminals running at “75% of our historical capacity” Seroka is confident Los Angeles is prepared.

Seroka was joined at the Port’s regular media briefing by Anne Neuberger, Deputy National Security Advisor for Cyber and Emerging Tech and Deputy Assistant to President Biden. Neuberger summarised President Biden’s Executive Order to strengthen the Department of Homeland Security’s authority to directly address maritime cyber threats. She noted that the US Coast Guard now has the authority to turn away a vessel that it considers presents a cybersecurity risk.

Neuberger congratulated the Port of Los Angeles for its foresight in setting up its cyber security operations centre with IBM nearly a decade ago. She said the work Los Angeles did in this area is “best practice”.  For ports that are not as advanced she added that there is a “small set” of specific measures such as encrypting data, rapid patching of vulnerabilities and other practices that ports can take as priorities reasonably quickly to improve cyber security.