So far, 2018 has been the busiest year ever at the Port of Long Beach. Despite Lunar New Year, cargo volumes increased 14% in March, making it the third consecutive month this year that cargo volumes increased. As a result, cargo volumes for the first quarter were up 19.4% over the first quarter 2017. In total, 1.9 million TEUs moved through the port in the beginning of the year. The previous cargo volume record was set in 2007.

“The rising demand for retail goods and other products is keeping volumes high, just in general, because the economy is thriving,” Lee Peterson of the Port of Long Beach tells GlobeSt.com. “Also, shippers are trying to spread out their shipments over the year to the traditionally slower months, to avoid loading up a “peak season.” But it's largely the demand for imported goods that has fueled the increase this first quarter.”

Cargo volumes throughout 2017 hit record-breaking levels as well, and the momentum has clearly carried into the beginning of the year. While the outlook was strong for cargo activity this year, these numbers exceed expectations. “We are ahead of where we expected to be, and we are seeing that the increases are coming all across U.S. ports, not just at the Port of Long Beach, so we are catching our share of that,” says Peterson.