The Port of Los Angeles handled 1.04 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) in September, setting a monthly container throughput record for its 118-year history, Ship & Bunker reported. The result also capped a record third quarter, during which the port moved nearly 3 million TEUs across its container facilities.
September’s total exceeded the previous monthly high, recorded in July 2025, by more than 20,000 TEUs. Ship & Bunker cited figures released by the port in a press statement on Friday. Alongside the overall throughput milestone, the port reported a separate monthly record for empty containers, with volumes reaching approximately 371,206 TEUs.
Loaded imports accounted for 545,696 TEUs in September, an increase of 19% compared with the same month a year earlier. Loaded exports also grew, rising 10% year on year to 125,751 TEUs. The figures showed growth in both loaded trade flows, although inbound loaded container volumes remained substantially larger than their outbound equivalent.
The strong September performance brought total throughput for the first nine months of 2026 to nearly 8.1 million TEUs, according to the figures reported by Ship & Bunker. That represented an increase of more than 3% against the corresponding period of the previous year. The monthly and quarterly records therefore came alongside growth in the port’s cumulative volumes for the year to date.
Gene Seroka, executive director of the Port of Los Angeles, described September as an exceptional month within a broader period of strong activity. He attributed the performance to resilient consumer demand and importers rebuilding their inventories. Seroka also said shippers were directing more cargo towards Los Angeles while dealing with continuing difficulties on other global trade routes, identifying cargo allocation as another factor behind the port’s performance.