Port of Los Angeles Records Highest-Ever Quarterly Throughput in Q3
The Port of Los Angeles handled nearly 3 million TEUs from July to September 2026, setting a record despite uncertainty over tariff policy and the China-US trade environment, while total Chinese and Asian cargo entering the US remained high.
What are the key facts?
- 1The Port of Los Angeles handled nearly 3 million TEUs from July to September 2026
- 2The port recorded its highest-ever quarterly throughput
- 3Including June, four-month cumulative throughput approached 4 million containers
- 4US tariff policy and the China-US trade environment remain uncertain
- 5Competition for port and inland logistics capacity may continue to intensify in Q4
What happened?
The South China Morning Post reported that the Port of Los Angeles handled nearly 3 million TEUs from July to September 2026, its highest quarterly total on record. Including June, the four-month cumulative throughput approached 4 million container units. The report said that despite uncertainty over US tariff policy and the China-US trade environment, the total volume of Chinese and Asian cargo entering the United States remained high, and competition for port, rail, trucking, and overseas warehouse capacity could continue to intensify in the fourth quarter. For cross-border ecommerce sellers, the impact may involve not only ocean freight rates but also port congestion, terminal container pickup, rail transfers, truck delivery, and overseas warehouse receiving lead times. Sellers relying on US West Coast ports and selling bulky or seasonal goods such as furniture, home goods, toys, apparel, and consumer electronics need to monitor receiving lead times from October through Black Friday and Cyber Monday and consider alternative ports or distributed warehousing beyond Los Angeles and Long Beach.
What does this mean for cross-border sellers?
The Port of Los Angeles handled nearly 3 million TEUs from July to September 2026, and competition for port, rail, trucking, and overseas warehouse capacity may continue to intensify in the fourth quarter. Sellers of bulky or seasonal goods relying on US West Coast ports should recalculate receiving plans from October through Black Friday and Cyber Monday and prepare alternative-port or distributed-warehousing options.
What should sellers do now?
- 1This week, review furniture, home goods, toys, apparel, and consumer electronics inventory relying on US West Coast ports. Work backward from October through Black Friday and Cyber Monday receiving deadlines, and produce an arrival plan and risk flag for each SKU.Profit calculator
- 2This week, confirm container pickup, transfer, delivery, and receiving lead times item by item with freight forwarders, rail providers, trucking companies, and overseas warehouses. Record quotes and commitments in the logistics sheet and create alternative-port or distributed-warehousing options beyond Los Angeles and Long Beach.
- 3This week, recalculate ocean freight, container pickup, rail transfer, truck delivery, and overseas warehouse receiving costs for affected SKUs using a profit calculator. Output the before-and-after profit results and flag products requiring repricing.