Loaded container volumes at the Port of Oakland remained essentially steady through the first seven months of 2026, despite a difficult July comparison with the previous year.

The Northern California gateway handled 179,999 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) in July, virtually unchanged from June. Measured against July 2025, however, total container volume declined 11.4%.

Full imports totaled 79,426 TEUs for the month, down 14% year over year. Full exports reached 60,005 TEUs, an 8.5% decrease from July 2025. Combined laden cargo volume fell 11.7% to 139,431 TEUs.

On a month-over-month basis, full imports rose 1.7% from June, while full exports declined 7.9%. Empty container volume totaled 40,568 TEUs, down 10.2% from July 2025.

For the year to date, Oakland handled 1,294,664 total TEUs through July, a 3.8% decline from the same period in 2025. The year-to-date decrease was driven primarily by lower empty-container activity, which fell 11.4%. Laden cargo volume slipped 1.5% over the same period.

Full exports were slightly ahead of last year through July, up 0.4%, while full imports declined 3.1%. The figures leave the port’s core loaded cargo activity broadly stable, even as overall container movements remain under pressure. Oakland has long been an outlier among major U.S. West Coast container ports for the relative weight of its export business — much of it tied to Northern California agricultural goods such as fruits, nuts and wine — so the fact that exports are running slightly ahead of last year while imports lag has helped cushion the port’s overall volume performance.

“July was a challenging month compared to last year, but our laden volumes remain essentially flat year to date and exports are slightly ahead of 2025,” said Jason Garben, the port’s acting maritime director, in a release. “Despite uncertainty in the market, we are hearing a positive outlook from our ocean carrier partners for the remainder of the year.”

This week Hapag-Lloyd resumed scheduled services with the arrival of the Missouri Express, the first vessel to call at Oakland as part of the WC5 U.S.-flag service. The return of carrier service strings matters beyond the immediate call count: scheduled services anchor the port’s capacity and connectivity, and their presence or absence can influence shippers’ routing decisions over subsequent months.

The gateway recorded 81 vessel calls in July, compared with 95 calls in the same month a year ago. The decline in calls accompanied the year-over-year reduction in total and laden container volume. For observers of West Coast port trends, the months ahead — including the traditional peak season for imports heading into the fall — will indicate whether the carrier optimism Garben cited translates into a recovery in vessel calls and laden volumes.

Source: FreightWaves