The November TEU Tallies Ports Are Actually Reporting

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.

Analysts’ Forecasts for November TEU Tallies

On December 8, the National Retail Federation’s Global Port Tracker issued its forecast for November, projecting that 1.91 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 11.6%. Meanwhile, the Descartes Systems Group estimated that 2,183,048 TEUs arrived at all U.S. ports in November, a 7.8% falloff from a year earlier.

Please note that a widely cited media report claiming that the Top Ten U.S. ports had sustained a 7.2% year-over-year fall-off in inbound loaded TEUs in October 2025 had to be revised to a 6.6% decline after all ten ports had posted their tallies for that month.   

The November TEU Tallies Ports Are Actually Reporting

Here are the TEU trade statistics posted prior to our publication deadline.

The Port of Los Angeles reported 406,421 laden TEUs were discharged at the port in November, an 11.3% fall-off from a year earlier but still 9.4% higher than the volume recorded in November of pre-pandemic 2019. Outbound loads amounted to 113,706 TEUs, an 8.4% year-over-year decline, and 17.9% below the volume reported in November 2019. Total container traffic through the first eleven months of this year at America’s busies container port amounted to 9,447,731 TEUs, a 10.0% gain over the same period in 2019.

The neighboring Port of Long Beach handled 400,505 inbound loads in November, a decline of 7.5% from a year ago but 36.6% more than the port discharged in November 2019. Outbound loads amounted to 110,122 TEUs, down 7.5% year-over-year and off by 11.0% from November 2019. YTD, total container traffic through the port amounted to 9,047,477 TEUs, up 29.9% from the same period in 2019.

At the Port of Oakland, 73,092 laden inbound TEUs were processed in November, a fall-off of 9.3% from a year earlier as well as a decline of 5.5% from the volume handled in November 2019. Outbound loads from the San Francisco Bau Area gateway amounted to 68,824 TEUs, up 3.3% from the previous November but down 15.8% from November 2019. Total container traffic YTD of 2,074,396 TEUs was down 10.2% from November 2019. 

The Northwest Seaport Alliance Ports of Tacoma and Seattle handled 87,393 laden import TEUs in November, a 19.4% plunge from a year earlier that left the Washington State ports with 8.0% fewer import loads than they had handled in November 2019. Export loads were similarly down in November, 16.9% from a year ago and 27.7% from November 2019. Total YTD container traffic (including domestic trade with Alaska and Hawaii) amounted to 2,918,676 TEUs, down 16.4% from the same period in 2019.

At the Port of Vancouver, Canada’s busiest seaport, outbound loads in November amounted to 145,281 TEUs, a 20.8% jump from a year earlier. Outbound loads at the British Columbia gateway in November totaled 75,378 TEUs, a 37.1% year-over-year bump. Total YTD container traffic through the port amounted to 3,473,887 TEUs, up 11.1% from the same eleven months in 2019.

On the East Coast, the Port of Virginia handled 121,736 loaded inbound TEUs in November, a 1.7% gain from a year earlier and a 17.7% increase over the volume recorded six years earlier. The 94,307 laden outbound TEUs the port handled in November was down 6.2% year-over-year but still 22.1% than the volume recorded in November 2019. YTD, the Mid-Atlantic Coast port has handled 2,974,065 TEUs, a 9.6% gain from the same period in 2019.

The Port of Charleston reported 95,214 inbound loaded TEUs in November, a 9.0% year-over-year falloff but a 15.0% gain over November 2019. Outbound loads of 51,124 TEUs were down 2.9% from a year earlier and off by 18.6% from November 2019. Total YTD container traffic through the South Carolina gateway amounted to 2,370,688 TEUs, a 5.4% increase in volume over the same eleven months of 2019.

On the Gulf Coast, Port Houston handled 143,426 inbound loaded TEUs in November, down 12.2% from a year ago but up 41.2% from November 2019. Outbound loads amounted to 132,576 TEUs, down 2.0% from a year earlier but up 22.8% from November 2019. YTD container traffic through the Texas gateway totaled 3,971,643 TEUs, up 45.1% from the first eleven ninths of 2019.