US West Coast ports saw a sharp reversal in laden imports in Q2 2025, following a front-loaded surge in Q1.
However, performance across key gateways varied significantly.
The Port of Long Beach led the January surge with a 45 per cent year-on-year (YoY) increase in imports but saw volumes collapse by June.
In contrast, the Port of Los Angeles resisted the downturn, posting a 9.7 per cent YoY rise in inbound volumes that month — while every other major West Coast port declined.
The Northwest Seaport Alliance (Seattle and Tacoma) experienced the steepest swing, falling from +34.7 per cent growth in January to a -27.3 per cent drop in June.
This divergence in volume trends led to a clear market share shift. Los Angeles was the only West Coast port to grow its share in Q2, gaining 2.8 percentage points.
This came largely at the expense of Long Beach, whose share fell by 2.2 points from Q1 to Q2.
These figures, detailed in Sea-Intelligence’s Sunday Spotlight (Issue 728), highlight how the downturn has unequally impacted West Coast ports, with Los Angeles outperforming its regional peers amid weakening volumes.
In July, the Port of Los Angeles handled a record 1.01 million TEUs — an 8.5 per cent increase YoY — making it the busiest month in the port’s history.