Pacific Merchant Shipping Association

08/31/2026

Year-to-date, Long Beach's total container traffic is up 56.2% over pre-pandemic 2019 levels, and Los Angeles is up 11.6% — even as monthly YoY volumes cool. San Pedro Bay remains the structural anchor of North American container trade. See how all 25 monitored ports stack up in our July WCTR update: https://www.pmsaship.com/maritime-insights-blog/july-2026-container-traffic-at-north-american-ports

08/27/2026

Halftime report is in: U.S. container trade in H1 2026 tells a story of divergence. Inbound loads are up sharply at Port Houston (+70.3%), Savannah (+32.1%), Long Beach (+29.5%), and Los Angeles (+18.4%) vs. pre-pandemic 2019 — while outbound volumes continue to slide at nearly every major gateway. Our latest Facts & Figures breakdown digs into what's driving the shift. Read it here: https://www.pmsaship.com/maritime-insights-blog/first-half-2026-us-container-trade-in-review-port-rankings-pacific-coast-trends-and-cargo-value

07/09/2026

If California is the world's fourth largest economy, why isn't it the top exporting state? It hasn't been since 2002. Texas now out exports California by a wide margin, though the methodology behind state export statistics is more complicated than it looks. Read the full breakdown: https://www.pmsaship.com/maritime-insights-blog/even-exporting-is-bigger-in-texas

07/08/2026

Are imports really to blame for California's winegrape troubles? We looked at the numbers behind the recent Gallo news out of Lodi, and bulk wine imports are actually down sharply this year. Read the full story: https://www.pmsaship.com/maritime-insights-blog/are-bulk-wine-imports-increasing

07/07/2026

Is Washington becoming California, whether it wants to or not? Jordan Royer looks at how California-style freight and port regulations keep showing up in Olympia, and why the underlying air quality problems, infrastructure, and budget pictures are too different to justify a copy-paste approach. Read the full article here: https://www.pmsaship.com/maritime-insights-blog/a-cautionary-california-tale-for-the-pacific-northwest

07/06/2026

The Port of LA is forecasting a 7% drop in container volume for the coming fiscal year, down to 9.3 million TEUs after one of its busiest years on record. With LA's current edge over Long Beach sitting at just 2.5%, the race for the top US container gateway could get interesting. We break it down: https://www.pmsaship.com/maritime-insights-blog/outlook-for-container-volumes-in-san-pedro-bay

07/02/2026

May was a strong month for San Pedro Bay. The Port of Los Angeles posted a 26.2% year-over-year jump in inbound laden TEUs, while Long Beach surged 40.0%, both well ahead of pre-pandemic 2019 levels. Oakland and the Northwest Seaport Alliance also saw modest year-over-year gains. The recovery follows last year's tariff-driven slowdown.
Full port-by-port numbers in our latest West Coast Trade Report: https://www.pmsaship.com/maritime-insights-blog/may-2026-container-traffic-at-north-american-ports

07/01/2026

A look at what's actually moving by sea to China from the West Coast: mostly soybeans, and most of it through three Washington ports along the Columbia River. The full data and trends are in our newest blog post. Read all about it: https://www.pmsaship.com/maritime-insights-blog/the-uswc-china-export-trade

06/30/2026

Ports that can permit and build clean fuel infrastructure efficiently will win cargo and investment. Ports that can't will watch it go elsewhere. PMSA Vice President Jordan Royer writes in the Seattle Times on why Washington needs to stop closing the door to innovation: https://ow.ly/6lZ250Zivbu

Places like Texas and British Columbia move green infrastructure projects much more quickly than Washington.