March 2026 Container Traffic at North American Ports

The West Coast Trade Report (WCTR) is a monthly publication of the Pacific Merchant Shipping Association. The WCTR monitors container traffic through 25 North American seaports, twenty in the United States, two in Mexico, and three in Canada. The TEU tallies cited here are the actual statistics released by the ports themselves, not before the fact estimates based on proprietary models.  

Analysts’ Forecasts for March TEU Tallies

On April 8, the National Retail Federation’s Global Port Tracker issued its estimate that the thirteen U.S. ports it monitors would handle 1.97 million imported TEUs in the month of March. That would represent a year-over-year decline of 8.3%. This more recent outlook is also higher than the 1.89 million TEUs the Global Port Tracker had projected a month earlier in its February 9 forecast. Meanwhile, the Descartes Systems Group estimated that 2,353,611 TEUs arrived at all U.S. ports in March, a 6.7% falloff from the previous March, according to Descartes’ calculation.

The March 2026 TEU Tallies Ports Are Actually Reporting

The Port of Los Angeles reported handling 380,733 inbound laden TEUs in March, a slight 1.2% fall-off from a year earlier but a solid 28.1% gain over the pre-pandemic March of 2019. The 132,129 outbound loaded TEUs shipped from the Southern California port in March represented a 7.4% year-over-year increase but remained 16.9% below the volume recorded in March 2019. Total YTD container traffic through the port amounted to 2,388,843 TEUs, up 8.2% from the first quarter of pre-pandemic 2019.  

Next door, the Port of Long Beach discharged 374,412 laden TEUs in March, down 1.6% from the previous March but up 51.6% over March 2019. Outbound loads of 104,554 TEUs were up 0.5% from a year earlier but down 20.5% from March 2019. Total container movements through the San Pedro Bay port in the first quarter amounted to 2,390,225 TEUs, up 32.3% from the same quarter in 2019, and slightly edging its neighbor for the title of North America’s busiest seaport.

The Port of Oakland handled 81,950 inbound loaded TEUs in March, down 6.8% from a year earlier but up 9.7% over March 2019. The port meanwhile shipped out 77,950 laden TEUs, a 2.4% year-over-year gain that still left the port 11.6% below the number of outbound loads recorded in March 2019. Total container traffic in this year’s first quarter amounted to 557,869 TEUs, down 8.9% from the volume handled in the same quarter in 2019.

March saw the Northwest Seaport Alliance Ports of Tacoma and Seattle handle 99,904 inbound laden TEUs, down 9.1% from a year earlier and down 14.6% from March 2019. The 62,338 outbound loads shipped in March were up 1.2% from the preceding March but were down 28.2% from March 2019. Total container traffic through the first three months of this year amounted to 714,719 TEUs, down 23.2% from the first quarter of 2019.

Across the border in British Columbia, the Port of Vancouver represented a near reverse image of the NWSA ports. Canada’s busiest seaport discharged 168,036 laden TEUs in March, a 9.7% year-over-year gain and a 28.8% increase over March 2019. However, outbound loads of 73,113 TEUs were down 2.5% from the previous March and down 29.3% from March 2019. Total container traffic in the first quarter amounted to 935,077 TEUs, up 10.9% from the first three months of 2019.

British Columbia’s much northern port, the Port of Prince Rupert, received 34,303 inbound laden TEUs in March, a 9.2% drop from a year earlier and a 20.5% decline from March 2019. Outbound loads rose by 7.0% to 15,416 TEUs, a figure that remained 13.5% of the volume shipped from the port in March 2019. Total container traffic in the first quarter amounted to 209,631 TEUs, 15.6% below the volume handled in the same quarter in 2019.  

The Port of Virginia reported 152,484 inbound laden TEUs in March, a 10.0% bump over a year earlier and a 42.5% gain over the volume handled in March 2019. Outbound loads rose by 5.6% year-over-year to 108,159 laden TEUs. That also represented a 21.1% improvement over March 2019. Total container traffic through the Mid-Atlantic gateway in the first quarter amounted to 799,620 TEUs, up 12.9% from the first quarter of 2019.

The Port of Charleston handled 109,400 inbound loaded TEUs in March, down 3.4% from a year earlier but up 17.8% from March 2019. Outbound loads of 58,706 TEUs were off by 2.1% from the previous March, while down by 24.4% from the volume recorded in March 2019. Total container trade through the South Carolina port in the first quarter amounted to 588,475 TEUs, 1.6% below the volume handled in the first quarter of 2019.

At the Port of Savannah, 248,104 inbound laden TEUs were discharged in March, 6.7% below the volume a year earlier but up 33.1% over March 2019. Outbound loads declined 6.0% year-over-year to 133,994 TEUs, which was also 13.6% below the number of outbound loads the port handled six years earlier. Total container traffic through the Georgia port in the first quarter amounted to 1,397,303 TEUs, up 21.2% from the first three months of 2019.

On the Gulf Coast, Port Houston handled 180,415 inbound loaded TEUs, a 7.5% year-over-year increase as well as a 64.6% improvement over March 2019. The Texas gateway meanwhile shipped 143,819 laden TEUs, down 5.9% from a year earlier but up 21.6% from March 2019. Total first quarter container traffic amounted to 1,087,870 TEUs, a gain of 56.7% over the same period in 2019.