The Port of Los Angeles marked the busiest January in its history as overall container traffic surged 17.4% from the same month a year ago.
The port’s terminals handled 826,640 TEUs, the busiest January in its 110-year history, and ahead of traffic levels in January 2016, the previous record for the first month of the year. It was also the second-best month overall, trailing only the 877,564 TEUs from this past November.
Combined, the port's January overall volumes were 826,640 TEUs, up 17.4% from the same month in 2016.
Executive Director Gene Seroka described the results as “encouraging,” after a record year in 2016.
The news follows similar strong results in January at the sister Port of Long Beach.
The port credited January traffic in part to retail stores replenishing inventories after the holidays, increasing increased U.S. exports and more ships calling ahead of the Lunar New Year.
Imports in January increased 13.1% to 415,423 TEUs on-year. Exports gained 28.7% to 162,420 TEUs. Total loaded imports of 577,843 TEUs were up 17.1% while empty containers rose 17.9% to 248,797 TEUs.