Port of LA confident in cargo imports despite trade disruption

The Port of Los Angeles has reported processing 840,000 containers in May, a 17% increase on the same month last year, when US tariffs caused many importers to halt shipments. It brings the number of containers moved through the port between January and the end of May to 4.1m TEUs, a 100% increase on the same period last year and the port’s five-year average.

Imported goods accounted for almost 450,000 loaded containers in May, a 26% increase on a very weak month in 2025 but the figure was still 3% above the five-year average at the port. In his latest monthly cargo news briefing, Gene Seroka, executive director of the Port of Lost Angeles, said the increase indicated that companies were continuing to move products through the supply chain at a healthy pace despite the disruption to trade and global supply chains. 

“Consumers are spending, businesses are ordering goods, and manufacturers continue to bring in parts and components, all despite the uncertainty we're seeing across the global economy,” said Seroka. 

However, exports have dropped, with just under 108,000 TEUs sent out from the port, a 10% decline on the same month last year and 8% below the port’s five-year average. “We have now seen year-on-year declines in six of the last nine months, a clear sign of the difficult environment facing many US exporters,” noted Seroka. 

There were also more than 283,000 empty containers handled through the port in May, up +18% on the same month last year.

Nevertheless, June promises to continue the strong performance, with the Port of Los Angeles’ Port Optimizers platform signalling that the port will handle 900,000 TEUs for the month. 

Auto parts import

Confidence that container volumes through the port will reach 900,000 indicates that US consumers are continuing to buy even in the face of higher inflation. Seroka said that growth is very strong in an economy worth $30 trillion. In terms of retail, everything from footwear, apparel and furniture, to toys and electronics continue to be imported.

Likewise, imported manufacturing products also remain strong, including automotive parts for more affordable vehicles. Seroka pointed to meetings he had had in Detroit in June with vehicle makers and automotive suppliers. 

“They're all pretty bullish, recognising while the average price of a new car has crossed $50,000 for the first time, launches of new products at more affordable price points are on the way,” he said. “These guys have been cooking for sometime on exactly how they're going to roll these products out into the market.” 

In calendar year 2025 the port processed more than 391,000 TEUs of automotive parts, second only to furniture in volume. Over the same year it processed just under 92,000 finished vehicles, a -35% decline, indicating the impact of tariffs on vehicle imports. 

While temporary import surcharges under Section 122 duties are set to end on July 24, Section 301 duties of 10% related to forced-labour concerns could be imposed on 13 countries and the EU, with 46 other countries subject to a 12% tariff. 

“As planning horizons have gotten a lot shorter, companies are adjusting by replenishing inventories and locking in costs while they can. This is the new reality of doing business in today's trade environment,” said Seroka. 

Retail and manufacturing companies are weighing energy costs, tariffs, inventory needs and geopolitical risks as they make sourcing and shipping decisions, according to Seroka. “And when they find a window of stability, many are moving quickly to take advantage, speeding cargo through the supply chain while conditions allow,” he said. 

Dire straits

Finding a window of stability for shipments through the Middle East has been difficult to say the least. Vessels have faced disruption to passage through the Strait of Hormuz since March, very soon after the US and Israel started bombing Iran. Between 100 and 120 vessels normally cross the strait every day but blockades, attacks on vessels and the threat of naval mines mean nearly 600 cargo ships and oil tankers are still waiting to safely leave the area. The very tentative memorandum of understanding (MoU) that has been signed by the US and Iran means negotiations can continue without hostility (or tolls) over the next 60 days, though the situation remains volatile.

On June 14 President Trump said on Truth Social: “Ships of the world, start your engines” but shipping lines are not going to move quickly given the safety of 20,000 seafarers currently stuck in the Persian Gulf remains a priority. 

“This is a situation where you definitely don't want to be first in line and even with a possible reopening, it will take months to normalise schedules, get the supply chain back to some semblance of normalcy and clear backlogs,” said Seroka. 

Vessel operators, port authorities and terminal operators, as well as goods manufacturers, are all looking at what the opening of the Strait of Hormuz will look like in the coming weeks and what sort of cargo volume will be able to move through it. They are also looking at worldwide oil prices and what this means for bunker costs. 

“We're watching specifically to see how exactly the strait could open up, what it could accommodate, will there be tolls, have all those landmines been swept and do companies in the private sector have the surety from the authorities that their vessels can move unimpeded,” said Seroka. “Will there be shipping announcements ahead of any transits?” 

Despite the uncertainty, Seroka said the Port of LA continued to be well positioned and has manged to move cargo unimpeded over the last three months plus. 

“The MoU and forward-looking negotiations could give us a little bit more upside to the already strong volumes, giving consumers and businesses alike a bit more confidence as we all look to seeing inflation come down just a bit,” said Seroka. 

Permits and power

Dan Letter, CEO of Prologis, the industrial real estate developer, who joined Seroka for this month’s update, pointed out that customers have been adapting to uncertainty and building resilience into the supply chain since 2017, when the Trump administration started its protectionist trade initiatives, including tariffs. He said that more logistics space is sought when there is trade uncertainty and Prologis has broken records for leasing in four of the last six quarters. 

The surge in bonded warehousing that followed the introduction has settled down, according to Letter, as customers build resilient networks to handled the volatility in the supply chain in different ways. 

Asked about what was needed to help with making the supply chain more resilient, Letter pointed to permits and power. As regulation gets more challenging, permits are required to build more infrastructure but that warehousing also needs an adequate supply of power, according to Letter. He said Prologis is focusing on getting power to these new buildings to ensure that customers can electrify fleets and making other technology advances. “We just need to ensure that we have a path for that power and that starts with the permitting,” said Letter. 

Prologis is also adopting the latest digital technology, and putting the right knowledge and tools in front of its teams to help simplify a complex logistics industry.

“What we've seen over the course of the last 15-20 years is our customers are actually taking more space per unit of sales then less because of all these complexities,” said Letter. The technology is helping ultimately service the end consumer and we are all looking for that speed and that choice.” 

Sustainable energy

One other challenge for the logistics sector is competition for space and energy from the digital infrastructure sector. There are concerns for both business and households that the proliferation of data centres are going to drive up costs and draw heavily on utilities like water and electricity. Self-contained power generation is something Prologis is looking at. Letter said the company is currently able to generate 1.3 GWh of power from rooftop solar energy and that is from only 8% of the available roof space. “A gigawatt can energise about a million homes and so we have a very long runway here as it relates to what our solar and on-site generation business is can be,” said Letter. 

Prologis is also building off-grid power solutions on its premises, including in the South Bay area where it has an electric vehicle charging hub to charge Class 8 heavy-duty electric trucks for Maersk Performance Team. Prologis Mobility has 96 charging stalls and 9 MWh of charging capacity there. 

 “We’ve also energised a number of buildings in Europe and the United States with off-grid solutions and we're really leaning into and building that business up because we think it's going to be more and more important, not just for data centres but for our core logistics users,” said Letter.