Another stellar October has put the Port of Los Angeles on track for its second consecutive record-breaking calendar year – and has it on pace to combine with its neighbor, the Port of Long Beach, for 20 million twenty-foot equivalent units moved in 2021.
The Port of Los Angeles on Thursday, Nov. 18, reported more than 900,000 TEUs, the standard cargo measurement, last month.
And while that was an 8% decline from October 2020, the year-to-date numbers are tracking about 15% above last year as a whole. And October 2020 saw the most cargo moved in that month in the port’s history — a high that came amid a streak of record-breaking months. In October 2019, the port reported 770,188 TEUs — or about 17% less than last month.
The LA port expects to reach 10.8 million TEU’s for this calendar year, breaking the 2020 record.
Together with the Port of Long Beach, an estimated 20 million TEU’s are expected to flow through the San Pedro Bay Complex this year.
The Port of Long Beach moved 789,716 TEUs last month, a 2.1% decline from October 2020, but 14.7% better than the same period in 2019. Through October, the Long Beach port had moved about 7.9 million TEUs this year — a 21% increase compared to the first 10 months of 2020.
The twin ports are the two busiest in the nation.
The October numbers come amid what has been a global supply chain crisis that has see. ships stack up outside the twin ports in unprecedented numbers.
On Thursday, for example, 100 vessels were at anchor or drifting, said Port of Los Angeles Executive Director Gene Seroka. Seventy-five of those were container ships.
Another 24 container vessels will arrive over the next three days, he said, with nine of those slated for the Port of LA and the rest for Long Beach.
Eighteen container ships were at berth being worked on Thursday, Seroka added, about 80% more than the average number typically served.
Efforts to clear the docks of old cargo, meanwhile, are paying off, Seroka said, reporting a 31% drop in those containers since Oct. 24.
Empty containers in October increased to 337,106 TEUs, a 2% jump compared to the same month last year. Ten months into 2021, the LA port has processed some 9.1 million TEUs.