{"id":466205,"date":"2026-09-17T01:16:39","date_gmt":"2026-09-17T01:16:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/466205\/"},"modified":"2026-09-17T01:16:39","modified_gmt":"2026-09-17T01:16:39","slug":"port-of-long-beach-sets-new-record-for-august-volumes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/466205\/","title":{"rendered":"Port of Long Beach sets new record for August volumes"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Port of Long Beach (POLB) announced this week that August volumes came in at their highest level for the month, in the port\u2019s 115-years of operations.<\/p>\n

Total August volume, at 919,922 TEU (Twenty-Foot Equivalent Units), posted a 2% annual gain, topping the previous August high, set in 2024, while coming in as the fifth highest-volume month on record for the port.<\/p>\n

August imports, at 456,100, saw a 3.6% annual gain, and exports, at 99,754 TEU, rose 4% annually. Empty containers, at 364,138 TEU, saw a slight -0.39% annual decrease. On a year-to-date basis through August, total POLB imports, at 6,687,078 TEU, are up 1.3% annually, with 2025 representing what was a record year.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are a couple of reasons for [this strong volume],\u201d said Dr. Noel Hacegaba, POLB CEO, on a media call earlier today. \u201cFirst, the ongoing transit restrictions at the Panama Canal keep pushing carriers to bring their containers to the West Coast. Secondly, we’re still seeing the trickle-down effects of the tariffs announced in July that had anxious shippers front-loading their goods. For that reason, we anticipate September will be another busy month for our port.\u201d<\/p>\n

Addressing tariffs, Hacegaba observed that POLB is not directly affected by the ongoing U.S.-Canada trade war, as inbound cargo from Canada mostly crosses by train into the Midwest\u2014while acknowledging that the tariff standoff does have a big impact on several California-specific industries like dairy and wine, which ship large amounts to Canada.<\/p>\n

To that end, he explained that California is home to the nation’s largest dairy industry, with the repercussions of those tariffs having an outsized effect on California-based ranchers. And he added that the biggest impact will be felt by California winemakers, as Canada is the number one export market for wines produced in the state.<\/p>\n

Looking at current economic conditions, Hacegaba explained that it is not just in California where consumers are feeling pressure and anxiety, highlighting data from the Conference Board, which fell for the second straight month in August.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne number in particular caught our attention: the expectations index, which measures consumers’ short-term outlook for income, business conditions, and the labor market, fell to 68.2 last month,\u201d he said. \u201cThe Conference Board notes that an expectations index reading below 80 has historically been associated with a recession occurring within the following year. Now, one month’s reading doesn’t tell exactly where the economy is headed, but confidence matters because consumer expectations can become consumer behavior when people become less confident about their jobs, income, or the economy, they tend to become more cautious. They may postpone major purchases, trade down on less expensive options, eat out less often, or simply put money aside.<\/p>\n

Multiply those decisions across millions of households, and they begin to affect the supply chain, and that’s why the contrast we’re seeing right now is so interesting. Cargo is strong, but consumer confidence is softening. These two things aren’t necessarily contradictory.\u201d<\/p>\n

As an example, he noted that the containers arriving at the port today represent decisions made by businesses earlier, stating that, in many cases, before they knew exactly what tariffs, prices, or consumer demand would look like this fall.<\/p>\n

\u201cRetailers still need merchandise for the holiday season,\u201d he said. \u201cManufacturers still need parts. Businesses still need inventory. So strong cargo today may tell us less about how consumers feel right now, and more about how businesses are managing the risk of what could happen tomorrow. And that’s why we’re watching both sides of the equation: what is moving through the port and what is happening at the checkout counter.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Port of Long Beach (POLB) announced this week that August volumes came in at their highest level…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":466206,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[131,133,132],"class_list":["post-466205","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-long-beach","tag-long-beach","tag-long-beach-headlines","tag-long-beach-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/466205","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=466205"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/466205\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/466206"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=466205"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=466205"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=466205"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}