Preliminary June 2025 TEUs
The West Coast Trade Report is a monthly publication of the Pacific Merchant Shipping Association. It 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 a priori estimates based on proprietary models or algorithms. However, as the tardy numbers become available, the Facts & Figures tables on the PMSA website will be promptly updated.
What others are saying about June’s TEU Traffic
On July 9, the National Retail Federation’s Global Port Tracker projected that 2.06 million TEUs laden with goods from abroad would arrive in June at the thirteen U.S. mainland ports it surveys. That would represent a year-over-year decline of 3.7%. Meanwhile, the estimate from the Descartes Systems Group pegged June’s number of inbound loads at all U.S. ports at 2,217,675 TEUs, which is said to be a 3.5% falloff from a year earlier.
What the ports themselves are saying about June
The forecasters may have been downbeat about container traffic in June, but the Port of Los Angeles enjoyed its busiest June ever (“ever” being the 117 years the port has been open). Inbound loads (470,450 TEUS) were up 9.7% from the preceding June, while outbound loads (126,144 TEUs) rose 3.0%. Total container traffic in the first half of this year through the premier Southern California gateway amounted to 4,955,812 TEUs, a volume 9.2% larger than the port recorded in the first half of pre-pandemic 2019.
June spun a much different narrative across the way at the Port of Long Beach, where inbound loads (348,681 TEUs) were down 16.9% from a year earlier but up 5.1% from June 2019. Outbound loads (87,627 TEUs) were off by 10.9% year-over-year and down by 34.5% from June 2019. Total YTD container traffic through the San Pedro Bay port amounted to 4,746,631 loaded and empty TEUs, 28.8% more than the number of TEUs the port had processed in the first half of 2019.
June was similarly a down month at the Port of Oakland, where inbound loads (70,334 TEUs) were off by 16.3% from the preceding June and down by 13.1% from June 2019. Meanwhile, outbound loads (59,593 TEUs) fell by 10.3% from a year earlier and were down 20.4% from the same month six years ago. All told, the San Francisco Bay port handled 1,142,876 loaded and empty TEUs in the first half of this year, 8.9% fewer TEUs than it had handled during the same period in 2019.
The Northwest Seaport Alliance Ports of Tacoma and Seattle handled 94,364 laden import TEUs in June, down sharply both from a year earlier (-27.3%) and from June 2019 (-23.1%). Export loads (47,293 TEUs) were likewise down year-over-year by 8.4% and by 38.2% from June 2019. Total international container traffic YTD through the Washington State gateways in this year’s first half amounted to 1,264,192 TEUs, 19.0% below the import/export volume handled in the first half of 2019.
Across the 49th parallel, the Port of Vancouver, Canada’s busiest seaport, recorded the arrival of 167,434 loaded TEUs in June, a 9.5% gain over a year earlier and a 21.8% increase over June 2019. However, outbound loads in June (65,646 TEUs) slipped by 2.9% from a year earlier and were down a remarkable 35.5% from June 2019. Total container traffic in this year’s first half (2,179,677 TEUs) was up 10.8% from the same months of 2019.
At Canada’s third busiest container port, Port of Prince Rupert, inbound loads in June (44,683 TEUs) were up by 22.7% from the same month last year but down an almost identical 22.6% from June 2019. Outbound loads (11,625 TEUs) were 0.5% higher than a year earlier but still 23.8% below the volume handled in June 2019. Total container traffic through the British Columbia port through the first half of this year (435,859 TEUs) was down 20.8% from the volume handled in the first six months of 2019.
In the Mid-Atlantic Coast range, the Port of Virginia rhandled 112,308 inbound loaded TEUs in June, down 10.1% from a year earlier while off by 0.2% from June 2019. Outbound loads (83,619 TEUs) this June fell 12.2% year-over-year but remained 9.3% above the volume shipped in June 2019. Total container traffic YTD through the port (1,640,985 TEUs) was up 12.8% from the first half of 2019.
Down along the Gulf Coast, Port Houston discharged 139,453 inbound loaded TEUs in June, down 9.3% from a year earlier but also the fewest the port has handled in any month since November 2023. Still, June’s inbound trade in laden TEUs represented a 32.6% gain over June 2019. Outbound loads this June (133,040 TEUs) were up 16.0% from a year ago and ahead of June 2019’s tally by 25.0%. Total box trade through the Texas gateway YTD (2,197,677 TEUs) represented a 48.5% jump over the same period in 2019.