The Port of Los Angeles recorded its busiest month in its 117-year history in July, handling 1,019,837 Twenty-Foot Equivalent Units (TEUs), an increase of 8.5% compared with July 2024.
According to the Port, retailers and manufacturers accelerated shipments in anticipation of higher tariffs later this year.
“Shippers have been frontloading their cargo for months to get ahead of tariffs and recent activity at America’s top port really tells that story,” said Port of Los Angeles Executive Director Gene Seroka.
“Port terminals in July were jam-packed with ships loaded with cargo, processed without any delay—much to the credit of our dedicated longshore workers, terminal and rail operators, truckers, and supply chain partners.”
Dr. Zachary Rogers, Assistant Professor of Supply Chain Management at Colorado State University and a lead author of the Logistics Managers Index, joined Seroka at a briefing and discussed the effects of tariffs on transportation, warehousing and inventory.
In July 2025, loaded imports totaled 543,728 TEUs, 8% more than a year earlier and the highest monthly import volume on record for the Port.
Loaded exports reached 121,507 TEUs, up 6% from July 2024.
The Port also processed 354,602 empty container units, a 10% year-over-year increase.
From January through July 2025, the Port handled 5,975,649 TEUs, up 5% from the same period in 2024.
The Port of Los Angeles is a department of the City of Los Angeles, located in San Pedro Bay, California. It operates as a landlord port, leasing its facilities to private terminal operators, and is governed by the Los Angeles Board of Harbor Commissioners.