In June, a decrease of -16.4% was recorded
If container traffic in the Port of Los Angeles continues to be driven by growth—according to the findings of the local Port Authority—due to the increase in imports in anticipation of the higher tariffs announced by President Donald Trump (of 15 July 2025), the scenario in the other major container port on the East Coast of the United States, Long Beach, appears very different, as containerized traffic, including imports, is declining. A decline that in the second quarter of 2025 was -3.4% compared to the same period in 2024 and that in June alone dropped to -16.4%.
Last month, in fact, the Port of Long Beach handled containerized traffic of 704 thousand TEUs compared to 842 thousand TEUs in June 2024. There was a sharp decrease in both
full containers at disembarkation and embarkation, respectively at 349 thousand TEUs (-16.9%) and 88 thousand TEUs (-10.9%), as well as empty containers, which totaled 268 thousand TEUs (-17.4%).
In the second quarter of 2025, the Port of Long Beach, out of a total freight traffic of 45.8 million tons, down by -6.8% compared to the same period in 2024, handled container traffic of 2.21 million TEUs (-3.4%), of which 1.07 million full TEUs at landing (-5.5%),
264 thousand full TEUs on boarding (-11.4%) and 880 thousand empty TEUs (+2.1%).
In the first half of this year, total cargo traffic in Long Beach was 96.5 million tons, with a growth of +5.5% over the first half of 2024, while containerized traffic alone amounted to 4.75 million TEUs (+10.6%), of which 2.29 million full TEUs at landing (+9.6%),
556 thousand full TEUs on boarding (-3.5%) and 1.90 million empty TEUs (+16.8%).
