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The Port of Long Beach, the second busiest port in the United States, said on Tuesday the port achieved its busiest June on record, driven by vibrant consumer spending, potential tariff increases and ongoing labour contract negotiations at seaports on the East and Gulf coasts. 

Dockworkers and terminal operators moved 842,446 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) in June, up 41.1 per cent from the same month last year and surpassing the previous record set in June 2022 by 7,034 TEUs, said the port in a news release, Xinhua news agency reported.

Port officials pointed out that imports jumped 53 per cent to 419,698 TEUs, exports rose 4 per cent to 98,300 TEUs, and empty containers moving through the port increased 42.1 per cent to 324,448 TEUs.

The Port has moved 4,291,626 TEUs during the first half of 2024, up 15 per cent from the same period last year, according to the news release.

"We are recapturing market share and consumer spending is driving cargo to our docks as we head into the peak shipping season," said Port of Long Beach CEO Mario Cordero in the news release, adding that "I see modest growth for the second half of 2024 as we strengthen our competitiveness and continue to invest in our rail infrastructure projects that will maximise cargo velocity efficiently and sustainably for decades to come."

The Port of Long Beach is the most important gateway for China-US trade, with about 70 per cent of its cargo volume related to China.

The Port of Long Beach and neighboring Port of Los Angeles together make up the San Pedro Bay Port Complex in Southern California. The complex is the world's busiest port complex by container volume.

In 2023, the Port of Los Angeles was the busiest US cargo port, moving more than 8.6 million TEUs, while the Port of Long Beach was the second busiest with 8 million TEUs.