Port of Long Beach logs busiest January on record

The Port of Long Beach (POLB) last week reported its busiest January ever with more than 800,000 20-foot equivalent units (TEUs) handled.

A total of 800,943 TEUs were processed at the port last month, up 4.8% from the same month in 2021. This is the second time POLB has recorded more than 800,000 TEUs, with the first in January 2021. Imports last month rose 6.9% to 389,334 TEUs, while exports increased 5.9% to 12,060 TEUs. Empty containers grew 1.8% to 288,550 TEUs.

POLB ended 2021 strong with a total of 9,384,368 TEUs moved, port officials said in a press release. They added that port activity may be higher than usual this month, as port workers continue to clear the docks and work through the backlog of ships waiting to enter the port. Business usually slows during this time of year due to the Lunar New Year holidays, they said.

“Terminal capacity is finally opening up thanks to support from our federal and state leadership, collaboration with industry partners and the hard work of the men and women moving record amounts of cargo off the docks,” said POLB Executive Director Mario Cordero. “We expect to remain moderately busy into the spring as we make significant progress to clear the docks and process the backlog of vessels waiting off shore.”