US Container Imports Hit All-Time High of 2.67m TEU in October

US container imports set an all-time monthly record in October 2026, reaching 2,674,808 TEU and topping the previous peak of 2,622,465 TEU set in May 2022 by 52,343 TEU. That's the headline from Descartes Systems Group's latest Global Shipping Report, and it lands amid a market most observers had written off as cooling.

The figure represents a 5% rise from September and a 16% jump against October 2025. Cumulatively, imports over the first ten months of 2026 sit 2.3% above the same period last year — the second straight month the year-to-date total has run ahead of 2025.

Where the boxes came from

China did the heavy lifting. Imports from China rose for a fourth consecutive month to 987,805 TEU, the highest monthly volume since January 2025. That's up 6.9% on September and 22.9% year on year.

China-origin cargo accounted for 36.9% of total US container imports, edging up from 36.3% a month earlier. Plastics, furniture, toys and manufactured goods drove the increase.

What happened at the ports?

The answer is a tale of two coastlines. Houston posted the largest monthly gain among the ten major ports Descartes tracks: imports jumped 26.7%, adding 42,665 TEU versus September. Charleston followed at 18.6%, Norfolk at 17.7% and Savannah at 12.6%.

The West Coast told the opposite story. Los Angeles slipped 1.4%, Long Beach fell 2% and Oakland dropped 10.9%.

The consequence: the five leading East and Gulf Coast gateways lifted their combined share of US container imports from 36.7% in September to 39.9% in October. The top five West Coast ports saw their share fall from 47% to 44.9%.

Gulf Coast imports as a region hit 266,905 TEU — a 24% monthly rise and the highest volume since Descartes began the regional series in August 2023.

One caveat worth noting. Descartes points out that part of the East and Gulf Coast rebound simply followed a weaker September. Some of this is base effect, not structural shift. Not all of it, though, is noise.

Delays keep climbing

Record volumes came with a cost: time. The unweighted average transit delay across ten major US gateways reached 6.3 days in October, up from six days in September and 4.2 days in June. Seven of the ten monitored ports recorded higher delays.

Descartes found no evidence of widespread port congestion, however. Its delay measure compares the initially declared arrival date on a bill of lading with the date processed customs documentation becomes available — so it captures paperwork friction as much as vessels waiting at anchor.

What does this change for shippers?

For importers, the record month confirms demand is holding even as trade policy stays unsettled. For carriers and forwarders, the port-share shift matters for network planning: East and Gulf Coast routings absorbed over three extra percentage points of national volume in a single month.

Jackson Wood, VP of Product Management, Trade Regulations at Descartes, said October's performance demonstrated the underlying strength of US maritime trade.

"October's record import volume shows that U.S. maritime trade remains strong," Wood said. He flagged tariffs, shipping security risks and carrier routing decisions as the variables shippers should watch when budgeting transport costs and transit times.

The November report names trade policy uncertainty, Middle East developments and changes to major shipping routes as continuing risks. Descartes expects those factors, together with port performance and shifting sourcing patterns, to shape US supply chains in the months ahead — and with volumes at record highs, even small disruptions now have less slack to land in.