The Port of Los Angeles handled 924,245 TEUs in January, the busiest start in the port's 117-year history and an 8 percent increase over last year.

Gene Seroka, executive Director of the Port of Los Angeles, said: "This January milestone adds to the strong growth that has averaged more than 927,000 container units over the past seven months. A strong economy, coupled with importers hedging tariffs and bringing cargoes into the Port of Los Angeles ahead of the Lunar New Year, have been key factors in the Port's cargo growth this year. We continue to move these record shipments quickly and efficiently with no ship delays, and it's a credit to ILWU's employees, truckers, terminal operators, and all of our stakeholders who continue to create new glories."

Rachel Michelin, president and CEO of the California Retailers Association, joined Seroka at the media briefing. "If these tariffs do become reality, combined with the insurance crisis in California, gas prices, and some of the rising costs, consumers are really going to be in for a shock over the next few months," Michelin said.

"We're hitting a tipping point where consumers can only take so much," media reports said.

In January 2025, the imported goods were 483,831 TEUs, an increase of 9.5%; Exports of goods amounted to 113,271 TEUs, down 10.5% year-on-year. Handling 327,143 empty containers; Year-on-year growth of 14%.

In the 2024-25 financial year (ended January), throughput grew 21.36% to 6.49 million TEUs, compared to 5.35 million TEUs last year. In 2024, the port handled 10.3 million TEUs.