July was the busiest month on record in the Port of Los Angeles’s 117-year history, according to the Port. It processed 8.5% more TEUs than in July 2024. This followed a busy June, when it handled 892,340 TEUs, up 8% from last year.
July 2025 loaded imports came in at 543,728 TEUs, 8% more than last year and the most imports ever in a month at the Port, it reported. Loaded exports landed at 121,507 TEUs, a 6% improvement from 2024. Additionally, the Port processed 354,602 empty container units, 10% more than last year.
Seven months into 2025, the Port of Los Angeles has handled 5,975,649 TEUs, 5% more than the same period in 2024.
“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, who recently gave a cargo briefing with Dr. Zachary Rogers, Assistant Professor of Supply Chain Management at Colorado State University, to discuss the impacts of tariffs on transportation, warehousing, and inventory (watch below). “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.”
A pause in tariffs in recent months lifted the Port of Long Beach to its most active July on record and the third-busiest month in its 114-year history, according to the Port, which predicted the trade rebound in its June cargo report.
The TEUS processed by dockworkers and terminal operators in July were up 7% from the previous record set in July 2024. Imports rose 7.6% to 468,081 TEUs and exports declined 12.9% to 91,328 TEUs. Empty containers moving through the Port increased 12.3% to 384,824 TEUs.
The Port has moved 5,690,863 TEUs through the first seven months of this year, up 10% from the prior-year period.
“Retailers are now seeing the arrival of goods that were purchased for lower costs during the temporary pause placed on tariffs and retaliatory tariffs earlier this year,” Port of Long Beach CEO Mario Cordero said. “Due to the ongoing uncertainty caused by shifting trade policies, our Supply Chain Information Highway digital tracking tool forecasts that cargo will be down about 10% in the second half of 2025, resulting in a flat year for volume.”
“We appreciate our terminal operators, truckers, dockworkers and all the individuals who are moving cargo through the Port at a record-setting pace,” Long Beach Harbor Commission President Frank Colonna added. “We continue to work closely with labor and industry to meet the evolving needs of our customers.”
The ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles recently announced they are extending their agreement with Pacific Harbor Line to provide railroad operating and maintenance services within the San Pedro Bay ports complex. Union Pacific and BNSF move cargo in and out of the complex.
