US West Coast ports regained some North American import market share last year, in part driven by labor uncertainty at ports along the East and Gulf coasts that encouraged some shippers to shift their cargo to Pacific gateways.

The Port of Los Angeles maintained its position as the number one port for North American imports, with 15.5% of the total market share — up from 14.7% in 2023, according to PIERS, a sister product of the Journal of Commerce within S&P Global. The Port of Long Beach edged out the Port of New York and New Jersey to secure the second-largest market share for North American imports last year, returning to second place with 13.7% after two years of slipping to third.

Los Angeles brought in 5.35 million TEUs in imports last year, up 20.6% compared with 2023. Similarly, Long Beach increased import volumes 24.4% to 4.72 million TEUs. Volumes at New York-New Jersey rose 11.2% to 4.43 million TEUs.

Overall, ports on the West Coast secured 49.8% of North American import share last year, up from 47.8% in 2023. The East Coast saw its share dip to 38.1% from 40.6% the year prior, while the Gulf Coast trimmed just under half a percentage point to 9%.

Overall, North American imports reached 34.57 million TEUs in 2024, up 14.3% year over year.

Los Angeles tops in exports, too

Meanwhile, the 2024 export market also showed some notable shifts in market share. Los Angeles climbed into the top spot for outbound containers, moving out 1.49 million TEUs, or 10.1% of the total market share, according to PIERS. That's the largest export market share of any North American port since at least 2019.

The Port of Houston, which tied Savannah for first place in exports in 2023, secured the second spot with 1.42 million TEUs, or 9.65%, in 2024. Savannah slipped to third with 1.37 million TEUs, or 9.3% of the total export market.

The ports of New York-New Jersey and Long Beach took the fourth and fifth slots, respectively, with NY-NJ securing a 9.2% share of the export market and Long Beach 8.2%.

The export market share held by Atlantic ports moved down to 45.6% last year from 47.9% in 2023, while West Coast ports secured 35.5% of outgoing shipments, up slightly from 35% in 2023.

Gulf Coast ports moved 15.8% of 2024 exports, down from 16.1% in 2023.

In total, North American exports reached 14.76 million TEUs in 2024, up 3.5% from 2023.