{"id":1009592,"date":"2026-08-18T23:14:25","date_gmt":"2026-08-18T23:14:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/1009592\/"},"modified":"2026-08-18T23:14:25","modified_gmt":"2026-08-18T23:14:25","slug":"cargo-still-flows-strong-but-could-see-leveling-later-in-2026-l-a-port-leader-says-daily-breeze","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/1009592\/","title":{"rendered":"Cargo still flows strong but could see leveling later in 2026, L.A. port leader says \u2013 Daily Breeze"},"content":{"rendered":"

On the heels of another strong cargo month at the Port of Los Angeles, Executive Director Gene Seroka described the rest of 2026 as potentially bringing more modest activity, citing recent projections by the National Retail Federation.<\/p>\n

While July cargo numbers were 6% below 2025 figures, the port still saw its second strongest July on record, processing 960,464 container units.<\/p>\n

Seroka said he anticipates \u201canother strong month in August.\u201d<\/p>\n

For now, Seroka said, the demand \u2014 and cargo \u2014 continues flowing, though it\u2019s all playing out against a shifting global environment, with exports continuing to struggle, falling 8% from last year\u2019s statistics.<\/p>\n

\u201cDemand remains and cargo flows,\u201d Seroka said, \u201ceven as the pace of the cargo flow levels off.\u201d<\/p>\n

Seroka\u2019s guest during his monthly news conference on Tuesday was Lance Hastings, the president and CEO of the California Manufacturers and Technology Association. Hastings acknowledged that there is \u201ca little bit of anxiety\u201d as the year wraps up.<\/p>\n

Consumer demand going forward \u2014 and how that rises or falls \u2014 will continue to be the most important indicator, Seroka said.<\/p>\n

Other ongoing shifting factors include possible tariffs and global unrest, both Seroka and Hastings said.<\/p>\n

The impact of the early peak season is slowing down and the rest of the calendar year could see more modest numbers, the National Retail Federation said earlier this month.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis year\u2019s peak shipping season is coming to an end,\u201d an Aug. 6 NRF news release<\/a> said, citing information provided by the Global Port Tracker report, \u201cwith import volume at the nation\u2019s major container ports expected to remain high this month before starting to decline for the remainder of 2026.\u201d<\/p>\n

Shifting tariff policies caused the peak shipping season to arrive earlier, said Jonathan Gold, NRF\u2019s vice president for supply chain and customs policy.<\/p>\n

\u201cRetailers brought in merchandise ahead of tariff changes in late July and responded to other uncertainties in the supply chain, like the ongoing disruption brought by the conflict in Iran,\u201d Gold said in the NRF news release. \u201cOne round of tariffs has been replaced with another, but retailers will be well stocked for the coming holiday season. Retailers know how to adapt to shifting situations and are well prepared to meet consumers\u2019 demand for affordability and choice.\u201d<\/p>\n

The once usually predictable monthly cargo flows, Seroka said, have been jostled by what is now generally seen as an earlier and longer traditional \u201cpeak season\u201d in shipping.<\/p>\n

Normally, Seroka said, the months of August and September \u2014 all the way up to Thanksgiving \u2014 have been a \u201cpeak\u201d cargo shipping season as goods flow into ports and then warehouses in preparation for back-to-school and the fall-winter holidays.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s just not the case anymore,\u201d Seroka said, as companies \u201cwant a little more padding\u201d to make sure items arrive in time and dodge any upcoming tariff changes or geopolitical unrest.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis year,\u201d he added, \u201cmany importers saw a window of opportunity from May to June and July to speed cargo to market with the temporary tariffs of 1974 set to expire on July 24\u201d and perhaps be replaced by higher fees.<\/p>\n

So if vessel space could be found, Seroka said, shippers chose to send early.<\/p>\n

It made sense, Seroka said, to \u201czip this cargo across the Pacific\u201d and get it into warehouses so it can roll it out as customers need.<\/p>\n

Citing the ongoing Iran conflict, Hastings said, predicting what lies ahead is a challenge.<\/p>\n

California, though, has an advantage, he added \u2014 because it\u2019s a key geographic cargo gateway. But that flow will also depend heavily on ongoing consumer demand, Hastings said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe last quarter,\u201d Hastings said, \u201cwill be a big indicator of what 2027 will look like.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"On the heels of another strong cargo month at the Port of Los Angeles, Executive Director Gene Seroka…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":1009593,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5123],"tags":[1582,276,2961,18448,224,6080,5337,50,8985],"class_list":["post-1009592","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-los-angeles","tag-ca","tag-california","tag-la","tag-long-beach","tag-los-angeles","tag-los-angeles-county","tag-losangeles","tag-news","tag-port-of-los-angeles"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/117119055821748507","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1009592","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1009592"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1009592\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1009593"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1009592"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1009592"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1009592"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}