The Port of Los Angeles handled 826,640 Twenty-Foot Equivalent Units (TEUs) in January 2017, an increase of 17.4 percent compared to January 2016. It was the busiest January in the port’s 110-year history, outpacing last January, which was the previous record for the first month of the year. It was also the second-best month overall for the Port, eclipsed only by last November’s 877,564 TEUs, the company said in its press release.
The January surge is due in part to retail stores replenishing inventories after the holidays, a trend of increased U.S. exports and cargo ships calling ahead of the Lunar New Year, when goods from Asia slow down considerably. Over the most recent 10-year period, January volumes at the Port of Los Angeles have averaged 645,142 TEUs. Current and historical data is available here.
January 2017 imports increased 13.1 percent to 415,423 TEUs compared to the previous year. Exports surged 28.7 percent to 162,420 TEUs in January. Total loaded imports of 577,843 TEUs increased 17.1 percent compared to the previous year. Empty containers jumped 17.9 percent to 248,797 TEUs. Combined, January overall volumes were 826,640 TEUs, a 17.4 percent increase compared to last year.
The Port of Los Angeles is America’s premier port and has a strong commitment to developing innovatively strategic and sustainable operations that benefit Southern California’s economy and quality of life. North America’s leading seaport by container volume and cargo value, the Port of Los Angeles facilitated $274 billion in trade during 2016. Port operations and commerce facilitate more than 133,000 jobs (about one in 14) in the City of Los Angeles and 479,000 jobs (or one in 18) in the five-county Southern California region. The San Pedro Bay Ports support nearly 1 million California jobs and 2.8 million nationwide.