The Northwest Seaport Alliance (NWSA), which manages marine cargo operations at the ports of Seattle and Tacoma in the United States, recorded a month-on-month recovery in container volumes in September 2026, although traffic remained below year-earlier levels.
Total container volumes reached 265,692 TEUs in September, increasing from 235,795 TEUs in August. However, volumes were down 8.1% compared with September 2025, reflecting continued weakness in year-on-year cargo movements.
Full imports rose 21.5% from August, while full exports increased 24.2%, indicating stronger activity during the month. Despite this improvement, full imports remained 4.4% lower than a year earlier, and full exports declined 9.6% year-on-year.
In the first nine months of 2026, NWSA handled about 2.17 million TEUs, down 10.6% from the same period in 2025. The alliance attributed the continuing year-on-year gap partly to elevated volumes in 2025, when importers brought shipments forward ahead of anticipated tariff changes.
Other cargo segments delivered mixed results. Breakbulk volumes reached 320,335 metric tonnes in the year-to-date period, up 13.4%, supported by industrial demand. Automobile volumes totalled 208,280 units, down 2.9% compared with the same period last year.
The NWSA continues to attract cargo owners seeking reliable rail connections and low rail dwell times. The alliance also plans to resume Evergreen’s HTW service calls at Tacoma in late October, providing exporters with another direct ocean service option during the peak refrigerated-cargo season.
The September rebound offers some improvement in monthly cargo activity, but the sustained year-on-year decline highlights the challenges facing the gateway amid changing trade patterns and tariff-related uncertainty.