{"id":116329,"date":"2026-03-09T04:51:04","date_gmt":"2026-03-09T07:51:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/shipping.einnews.com\/article\/898239340"},"modified":"2026-03-09T04:51:04","modified_gmt":"2026-03-09T07:51:04","slug":"cargo-volume-at-local-ports-dip-in-january","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/2026\/03\/09\/cargo-volume-at-local-ports-dip-in-january\/","title":{"rendered":"Cargo Volume at Local Ports Dip in January"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Year-over-year cargo volumes dipped at the Port of Los Angeles and Port of Long Beach but remained nothing to sneer at either.<\/p>\n

The twin ports anchoring the San Pedro Bay \u2013 which collectively are the gateway for about a third of the nation\u2019s imports \u2013 handled nearly 1.66 million TEUs of cargo in January, an 11.6% decline. It was also their second-largest January haul since the Covid-19 pandemic-induced logjam.<\/p>\n

And at the Port of Long Beach, new Chief Executive Noel <\/b>Hacegaba<\/b> could claim the crown as being the busiest seaport in the United States for the month.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are leading the nation in trade and providing a safe harbor in the sea of tariff and trade uncertainty for our customers and the goods movement industry,\u201d Hacegaba said at a news conference in February. \u201cNo matter what happens with cargo volume, the Port of Long Beach has the capacity, infrastructure and workforce to move goods quickly, efficiently and reliably.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tariffs remain a major influence on cargo patterns \u2013 and add important context to the volume dips. As Port of L.A. Executive Director Gene Seroka<\/b> pointed out, these volumes run in comparison to a year ago, when imports skyrocketed in anticipation of President Donald Trump<\/b>\u2019s tariffs that would eventually make trade more expensive for everyone.<\/p>\n

\u201cSecond, inventories remain slightly higher, reflecting the earlier cargo surge and a more cautious restocking pace,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Breaking down numbers<\/b><\/p>\n

Of the Port of L.A.\u2019s 812,000 total TEUs \u2013 20-foot equivalent units, which is the industry measurement for cargo \u2013 dockworkers handled 421,594 loaded imports, a 13% drop. They also loaded 104,297 export TEUs, an 8% dip.<\/p>\n

At the Port of Long Beach, dockworkers handled 847,765 TEUs, of which 409,818 were loaded imports (down 13%) and 99,478 loaded exports (up by less than a percent).<\/p>\n

The remaining sum is reflected by empty containers moving in or out of the ports.<\/p>\n

These numbers, of course, predate the U.S. Supreme Court\u2019s ruling that invalidated his administration\u2019s tariffs invoked under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act. However, Trump\u2019s follow-up move was to enact temporary across-the-board tariffs \u2013 first at 10% and then 15%.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile this decision ruled on the legality of the IEEPA tariffs, it did little to remove the uncertainty we\u2019ve seen \u2013 and continue to see \u2013 across the global supply chain,\u201d Hacegaba said.<\/p>\n

Legally, these new tariffs last 150 days and can only be made permanent by Congress. We shall see how this affects patterns in the coming months.<\/p>\n

\u201cU.S. trade policy continues to keep everyone on edge,\u201d Seroka said. \u201cHowever, the American consumer has shown remarkable resilience. And purchase orders that go out three months in advance to Asia look stable, a good sign.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dwell times are mixed bag<\/b><\/p>\n

The Pacific Merchant Shipping Association<\/b> reported a mixed bag on dwell times, which measure the period from which cargo is moved off a ship and loaded onto drayage trucks or railcars.<\/p>\n

Truck-bound cargo dwell times were 2.75 days \u2013 an increase by hours from December but an improvement by about a day from the prior January. Rail-bound cargo, meanwhile, had an average time of 6.14 days \u2013 a day longer than December but a day shorter than the prior January.<\/p>\n

\u201cPerformance in Southern California continues to reflect stable intermodal operations supported by coordination among terminal operators, drayage providers and rail partners,\u201d said Natasha Villa<\/b>, external affairs manager of the PMSA, in a statement.<\/p>\n

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… .\u00e2\u0080\u009d Tariffs remain a major influence on cargo<\/span> patterns \u00e2\u0080\u0093 and add important context … remain slightly higher, reflecting the earlier cargo<\/span> surge and a more cautious restocking … are mixed bag The Pacific Merchant Shipping<\/span> Association reported a mixed bag on …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-116329","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","wpcat-1-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116329","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=116329"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116329\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=116329"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=116329"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=116329"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}