USWC Containerized Trade with the Danger Zone

What’s been the impact of armed conflict on U.S. West Coast maritime trade with the nations of the Gulf Cooperation Council nations of Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates?

Trade in containerized goods between the chief USWC ports and the GCC has fallen sharply since hostilities began on February 28. As of June, export tonnage has been down 8.9% at the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, while dropping by 46.7% at the Port of Oakland and by 80.8% at the NWSA Ports of Tacoma and Seattle. As for imports from the GCC countries to USWC ports, June’s tonnage was down 40.1% from a year earlier at the Southern California ports and by 53.1% at Oakland. The NWSA ports, however, recorded a 71.2% year-over-year jump in containerized import tonnage due to the arrival of the ports’ largest shipment of unwrought aluminum from the GCC since April 2023.