Almost 1 million TEUs in new record for this U.S. container gateway

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The Port of Long Beach handled its busiest August on record, moving nearly 920,000 container units as shippers continued to adjust supply-chain strategies amid tariffs and geopolitical uncertainty.

Long Beach processed 919,992 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) in August, up 2% from the same month in 2025. The result also ranked as the fifth-busiest month in the port’s 115-year history.

Imports increased 3.6% year over year to 456,100 TEUs, while exports rose 4% to 99,754 TEUs. Empty-container moves, an indicator of future import traffic, slipped 0.39% to 364,138 TEUs.

“Our August numbers tell us that shippers continue to adapt to tariffs and geopolitical uncertainty and are confident in the Port of Long Beach’s ability to deliver,” port Chief Executive Noel Hacegaba said in a release.

Through the first eight months of 2026, Long Beach moved 6.68 million TEUs, a 1.3% increase from the same period a year earlier. The port handled 6,678,078 TEUs from January through August.

The August gain indicates that cargo owners continued to route freight through the Southern California gateway despite a trade environment shaped by shifting tariff policies and broader geopolitical risk. The stronger import and export volumes also helped offset the small decline in empty-container traffic.

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