The Port of Los Angeles handled 487,846 TEUs in February, down 43% year-on-year and its worst February since 2009.

“The overall slowdown in global trade, extended Lunar New Year holidays in Asia, warehouse backlogs and shifts to West Coast ports exacerbated February’s decline,” said Gene Seroka, executive director of the Port of Los Angeles. It will remain below the average for the first half of 2023.” The figures paint a clear picture of a slowdown in container traffic following a pandemic-driven surge in freight that started to fade last summer. Loaded imports in February 2023 were 249,407 TEUs, down 41% year-on-year and 32% month-on-month. Exports were 82,404 TEUs, down 14% year-on-year. The number of empty containers was 156,035 TEUs, down 54% year-on-year.

Overall containerized imports at the top 10 U.S. ports in February 2023 fell by 296,390 TEUs, with all but Tacoma seeing declines. The Port of Los Angeles saw the largest decline in total container volume, accounting for 40% of the total TEU decline. It was the lowest level since March 2020. Imported containers at the Port of Los Angeles fell 41.2% to 249,407 TEUs, ranking third in import volume behind New York/New Jersey (280,652 TEU) and San Pedro Bay’s Long Beach (254,970 TEU). Meanwhile, imports to US East and Gulf Coast ports fell 18.7% to 809,375 TEUs. The US West continues to be impacted by labor disputes and the shift of imported cargo volumes to the US East.

During a cargo news conference on Friday, Port of Los Angeles executive director Gene Seroka said the number of ship calls fell to 61 in February, compared with 93 in the same month last year, and there were no fewer than 30 layoffs for the month. Seroka said: “There is really no demand. U.S. warehouses are still basically full. Retailers have to clear inventory levels before the next wave of imports. Inventory is slow.” He added that destocking, even with deep discounts, could not be done at a time when U.S. media reports retailers are deciding to clear inventory. While throughput is expected to improve in March, throughput will drop by about a third month-on-month and will be “below the average level in the first half of 2023,” Seroka said.

In fact, data for the past three months showed a 21% drop in U.S. imports, a further decline from a negative 17.2% decline in the previous month. In addition, the number of empty containers shipped back to Asia has fallen sharply, further evidence of a slowing global economy. The Port of Los Angeles exported 156,035 TEU of cargo this month, down from 338,251 TEU a year earlier. The Port of Los Angeles was named the busiest container port in the United States for the 23rd consecutive year in 2022, handling 9.9 million TEUs, the second-highest year on record behind 2021′s 10.7 million TEUs. Port of Los Angeles’ throughput in February was 10% lower than in February 2020, but 7.7% higher than in March 2020, the worst February for the Port of Los Angeles since 2009, when the port handled 413,910 standard containers.