Long Beach Port Traffic Surges to Record in October; Importers Rushing to Beat Tariffs?

I'll have more on port traffic once Los Angeles releases their data for October.

From the Port of Long Beach: Port of Long Beach Reaches All-Time Record in October

The Port of Long Beach moved nearly 1 million cargo containers in October, achieving its strongest month in its 113-year history, driven by brisk demand for holiday goods and delayed containership arrivals caused by a nearby traffic incident and fire that affected some terminal operations at the end of September.

Dockworkers and terminal operators moved 987,191 twenty-foot equivalent units in October, up 30.7% from the same month last year and surpassing the Port’s previous all-time one-month record set just two months earlier in August 2024 by 8%. Imports jumped 34.2% to 487,563 TEUs and exports rose 25.3% to 112,845 TEUs. Empty containers moved through the Port grew 28.1% to 386,782 TEUs. October also marked the Port’s fifth consecutive monthly year-over-year cargo increase.

The Port of Long Beach inbound traffic is up almost 30% year-over-year for the last four months as importers are apparently rush to stockpile goods prior to the implementation of the new tariffs.  The Port of Los Angeles has seen a similar surge in imports.