Port of Los Angeles August imports down 17% year-on-year, expected to continue to fall

The Port of Los Angeles, the largest container port in U.S. throughput, is bucking the overall U.S. port trend. While overall U.S. container imports remain near record highs, the Port of Los Angeles saw a double-digit year-over-year decline in imports in August.

The Port of Los Angeles reported Thursday that total throughput at the Port of Los Angeles for August was 805,672 TEUs, down 15.5 percent year-over-year. Imports were 404,313 TEU, exports were 100,484 TEU and empty containers were 300,875 TEU.

Among them, imports dropped sharply, down 16.8% year-on-year and down 16.7% compared with July.

This was the lowest month for total imports at the Port of Los Angeles since December of last year, when total imports at the Port of Los Angeles were held back by severe landside congestion. It was also the lowest August import total at the Port of Los Angeles since 2014.

However, the plunge in August imports at the Port of Los Angeles is not representative of the trend in overall U.S. imports. According to logistics technology platform Descartes, overall U.S. container imports in August were essentially unchanged from July, down 1.8 percent year-over-year, ending a record level that had been in place since mid-2020. Overall U.S. imports were up 18 percent compared to August 2019, and imports at the Port of Los Angeles were down 8 percent in August compared to August 2019.

Descartes said, "While overall U.S. container import figures for August were down slightly compared to the same month in 2021, they were still above 2.5 million TEUs, which is still a fairly high level and above the levels that have caused port congestion and delays over the past 18 months."

"The economic slowdown, peak season, inflation and the potential impact of fuel costs all cast a shadow over future import volumes."

The performance of the Port of Los Angeles stands in stark contrast to the data released by the Port of Savannah. The Port of Savannah imported 290,915 TEUs in August, up 20 percent year-over-year, the highest in the port's history.