The Port of Los Angeles handled 1,042,652 TEUs in September 2026 — the busiest month in its 118-year history, beating the previous record set in July 2025 by more than 20,000 units.

The milestone did not stand alone. The record month capped the strongest quarter the port has ever recorded, with nearly 3 million TEUs moved between July and September. The four-month stretch from June through September generated close to 4 million TEUs, also an all-time high for any such period.

What drove the record?

Loaded imports reached 545,696 TEUs in September, up 19% year-on-year — the clearest signal that US inbound demand remains firm. Loaded exports rose 10% to 125,751 TEU. Empty containers totalled roughly 371,206 TEUs, the highest monthly figure in port history, reflecting the heavy imbalance of equipment flowing back out of Southern California.

Cumulative volume for the first nine months of 2026 reached nearly 8.1 million TEUs, more than 3% ahead of the same period in 2025.

Executive Director Gene Seroka attributed the performance to three forces:

• resilient consumer demand;
• inventory replenishment by importers;
• cargo allocation shifting toward Los Angeles as shippers steer around disruptions on Suez Canal and Panama Canal routes.

Seroka also noted that tariffs now sit below levels seen earlier in the year, giving importers greater cost certainty — a factor that has emboldened front-loading and replenishment programmes.

How are supply chain strategies changing?

Harvard Business School Professor Willy Shih, joining the port's monthly media briefing, described a broader corporate shift away from pure cost optimisation. Companies are now prioritising flexibility in sourcing, manufacturing and cargo routing amid continued global trade uncertainty — a structural change that favours gateways like Los Angeles, which can absorb volume swings across carriers and trade lanes.

Mayor Karen Bass credited the port's waterfront workforce, the ILWU and Seroka for the result, describing the port as an extraordinary economic engine supporting good-paying union jobs and sustaining Los Angeles's position as a global trade competitor.

What does this mean for shippers and carriers?

For shippers, the numbers confirm that trans-Pacific capacity into LA remains plentiful even at record volumes — but the record empty-container flow signals mounting repositioning pressure, which carriers recover through imbalance surcharges and equipment availability constraints at inland points.

For carriers and forwarders, a gateway capturing nearly 8.1 million TEUs in nine months consolidates bargaining power around San Pedro Bay berths, terminal slots and intermodal rail capacity. Any further diversion from Suez and Panama routing patterns would push still more volume toward US West Coast alternatives.

With consumer demand holding, tariff levels below their earlier 2026 peaks and canal routing challenges persisting, the momentum behind Los Angeles looks set to carry into the final quarter — and the port's own guidance points to continued elevated throughput rather than a post-record correction.