June volumes were up 12% from a year earlier, driven largely by imports, which climbed 13% to 530,558 TEUs \u2014 the port\u2019s third-highest import month on record. Exports were essentially flat at 126,365 TEUs, while empty containers returning to Asia rose 17% to 345,811 TEUs as shipping lines repositioned equipment to meet continued demand.<\/p>\n
\u201cCrossing the 1 million container mark for the third time and closing our fiscal year with more than 10.4 million TEUs are remarkable accomplishments,\u201d Executive Director Gene Seroka said.<\/p>\n
Seroka said importers are continuing to abandon traditional seasonal shipping patterns, choosing instead to move cargo whenever trade conditions allow.<\/p>\n
\u201cMany retailers are making strategic decisions and have stepped away from traditional seasonal shipping patterns, advancing cargo whenever they see an opening rather than waiting for perfect conditions,\u201d he said during the port\u2019s monthly cargo briefing.<\/p>\n
Just down the coast, the Port of Long Beach also reported strong growth, handling\u00a0779,331 TEUs\u00a0in June, up 10.6% from the same month last year and marking its third-busiest June on record.<\/p>\n
Imports increased 11% to 387,025 TEUs, while exports slipped 1.3% to 86,446 TEUs. Empty containers climbed 14.1% to 305,860 TEUs.<\/p>\n
Year-to-date, Los Angeles has processed 5.12 million TEUs, up 3% from the first half of 2025, while Long Beach has handled 4.83 million TEUs, a 1.7% increase that keeps the port on pace with last year\u2019s record-setting performance.<\/p>\n
Port of Long Beach CEO Noel Hacegaba said the surge reflects continued efforts by retailers to bring in merchandise before trade policy changes expected later this summer.<\/p>\n
\u201cBusinesses are preparing for volatility, not certainty,\u201d Hacegaba said. \u201cRetailers are intent on restocking shelves while keeping prices as low as possible, helping to drive the frontloading we\u2019re seeing right now.\u201d<\/p>\n
The latest results reinforce forecasts from the National Retail Federation and Hackett Associates<\/a>, which expect U.S. container imports to reach a record\u00a02.47 million TEUs in July\u00a0as retailers accelerate shipments ahead of potential tariff increases expected in August.<\/p>\n The industry group said the traditional fall peak shipping season has shifted earlier in recent years as importers increasingly adjust purchasing schedules around labor disruptions, geopolitical risks and evolving U.S. trade policy rather than the historical retail calendar.<\/p>\n Jonathan Gold, the NRF\u2019s vice president for supply chain and customs policy, said retailers are also contending with continued uncertainty stemming from the conflict involving Iran alongside the prospect of new tariffs.<\/p>\n \u201cThis year\u2019s early peak season is expected to continue through July as retailers and other importers prepare for potentially higher tariffs beginning in August and other trade uncertainties,\u201d Gold said.<\/p>\n Temporary 10% Section 122 tariffs are scheduled to expire on July 24, while the Trump administration is expected to introduce a new round of tariffs related to forced labor as early as August.<\/p>\n Hackett Associates founder Ben Hackett said import volumes are likely to remain elevated through July before falling back later in the year.<\/p>\n \u201cMuch of this increase reflects frontloading ahead of expected tariff increases,\u201d Hackett said.<\/p>\n While cargo volumes have surged, both Southern California ports said operations have remained fluid, with no significant vessel backlogs or cargo delays despite the sharp increase in imports.<\/p>\n Editorial Standards<\/a> \u00b7 Corrections<\/a> \u00b7 About gCaptain<\/a><\/p>\n \t\t Sign up for gCaptain\u2019s newsletter and never miss an update<\/p>\n \u2014 trusted by our 104,637 members<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The nation\u2019s two busiest container gateways continued to benefit from an early peak shipping season in June as…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":183271,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[4554,131,133,132,3359,1438,143795],"class_list":["post-399805","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-long-beach","tag-container-shipping","tag-long-beach","tag-long-beach-headlines","tag-long-beach-news","tag-port-of-long-beach","tag-port-of-los-angeles","tag-retail-imports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/399805","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=399805"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/399805\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/183271"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=399805"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=399805"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=399805"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"logo\"\/](\"https:\/\/gcaptain.com\/wp-content\/themes\/gCaptain-Theme\/assets\/images\/gcaptain-new-gray-logo.svg\"){kind=logo}
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