Preliminary August 2025 TEUs
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. However, as the tardy numbers become available, the Facts & Figures tables on the PMSA website will be promptly updated.
Preliminary Forecasts for August TEU Tallies
On September 9, the National Retail Federation’s Global Port Tracker issued its preliminary forecast for August, projecting that 2.28 million TEUs laden with goods from abroad would arrive at the thirteen U.S. mainland ports it surveys. That would represent a year-over-year decline of 1.8%. Meanwhile, the Descartes Systems Group estimated that 2,519,722 TEUs arrived at all U.S. ports in August, a 1.6% increase from a year earlier.
Initial Port Volume Reporting for August
America’s leading container port, the Port of Los Angeles handled 504,514 inbound laden TEUs in August, down by 1.0% from a year earlier but up 15.3% from the volume recorded in the pre-pandemic August of 2019. The 95,960 outbound loaded TEUs shipped from the port this August represented an 8.3% falloff from a year earlier as well as a 12.9% drop from August 2019. Total container traffic YTD (loads and empties) amounted to 6,934,004 TEUs, up 9.9% from the same period in 2019.
The Port of Long Beach reported 440,318 inbound loaded TEUs in August, down 3.6% from a year earlier but up 36.4% from the pre-pandemic August of 2019. The 95,960 outbound loads that sailed from the Southern California port in August may have represented a year-over-year increase of 8.3% but the volume was 23.2% below the numbers recorded six years earlier. Counting both loaded and empty boxes, total container traffic through the first eight months of this year (6,592,708 TEUs) was up 32.6% from the same period in 2019.
Together, the two San Pedro Bay ports handled 944,832 inbound loads in August, a 2.2% dip from the previous August. Outbound loads amounted to 223,339 TEUs in this year’s eighth month, a 1.3% decline from a year ago. Total container movements through both ports YTD rose to 13,526,713 TEUs, a gain of 19.9% from the same period in 2019.
Canada’s third busiest seaport, the Port of Prince Rupert, handled 43,833 inbound loaded TEUs in August, a 23.1% surge year-over-year but still down 38.7% from July 2019. Outbound loads (10,992 TEUs) were up 2.5% from a year earlier but down 27.4% from the same month in 2019. Total container traffic through the British Columbia gateway YTD amounted to 605,815 TEUs, off by 22.6% from the same period in 2019.
The Northwest Seaport Alliance Ports of Tacoma and Seattle discharged 93,003 laden TEUs in August, a baleful 24.8% plunge from a year earlier that left the two ports down 17.2% from the number of inbound loads they had handled in August 2019. Outbound loads meanwhile amounted to 42,098 TEUs, an 18.1% year-over-year decline as well as a 43.8% drop from August 2019. Total container traffic YTD (2,142,096 TEUs) was down 16.4% from the same period in 2019.
Back East, inbound loads at the Port of Virginia in August amounted to 140,055 TEUs, an 8.3% falloff from the same month last year but a 15.2% increase over August 2019. The 85,360 outbound loads shipped from the Mid-Atlantic Coast gateway were down 8.9% from a year earlier but up 5.8% over August 2019. Total container traffic through the first eight months of this year (2,191,619 TEUs) stood 10.8% above 2019’s level.
Further south along the Atlantic Seaboard, the Port of Charleston reported 110,697 inbound loads in August, up 11.7% from a yar earlier but just 7.2% over the tally for August 2019. Outbound loads (52,564 TEUs) edged up by 1.0% year-over-year but remained 28.9% below the volume recorded in August 2019. Total container traffic YTD amounted to 1,753,524 TEUs, up 6.2% from the same months in 2019.
Along the Gulf Coast, Port Houston handled 169,631 inbound loads in August, a 3.9% gain from a year earlier but a remarkable 53.8% jump over the volume recorded in the same month six years earlier. Outbound loads (138,351 TEUs) were up 3.9% year-over-year and 26.5% over the volume shipped in August 2019. Total container traffic through the Texas port YTD amounted to 2,932,936 TEUs, a 48.1% increase over the first eight months of 2019.
Container traffic statistics for August 2025 from the Ports of Oakland, Vancouver, Baltimore, New York/New Jersey, and Savannah were not posted by our publication deadline.