In its 728th issue, Sea-Intelligence analyzed the performance of US ports during the sharp contraction in laden imports during the second quarter of 2025. Their analysis shows that major West Coast gateways followed distinct paths as the market shifted, with the Port of Los Angeles gaining 2.8 percentage points of West Coast market share, primarily at the expense of its neighbor, the Port of Long Beach.
US West Coast ports experienced a strong early loading boom in the first quarter of 2025, followed by a sharp reversal into severe contraction in May and June. However, not all ports experienced the downturn, with the neighboring Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach exhibiting significant differences in port throughput.
The Port of Long Beach led the import surge, with very strong year-on-year growth of +45.0% in January, but then experienced a sharp reversal, with a sharp contraction in June. In contrast, the Port of Los Angeles completely reversed this decline, with a strong year-on-year increase of 9.7% in June, while other major West Coast ports all experienced significant declines in loaded inbound throughput during the same period. The Northwest Seaport Alliance (NWSA) of Seattle and Tacoma experienced the most extreme “whiplash” effect, plummeting from a +34.7% share in January to -27.3% in June.
This difference in operational performance translated directly into a strong market share shift between the two San Pedro Bay ports during the economic downturn. The Port of Los Angeles was the only West Coast port to increase its share in the second quarter of 2025, adding another 2.8 percentage points to the laden import market. This growth came almost entirely at the expense of the Port of Long Beach, whose West Coast import share fell by -2.2 percentage points from the first quarter to the second quarter.
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