Seroka hails role of women in port operations

Eugene Seroka, executive director, the Port of Los Angeles commemorated March as Women’s History Month and honored “the incredible women here at the Port of Los Angeles who are making history every day.”

During his media briefing on March 19^th, Seroka went on to say that the role of women in Port operations is gaining in importance: “They hold leadership positions on the Harbor Commission, the executive team, and across divisions. Women represent a third of the Harbor Department's workforce, and as I have mentioned before, women account for nearly 40% of our engineering staff positions, which is double the national average. Women also serve as sworn officers of the Los Angeles Port Police, and they take … jobs such as construction and maintenance pile drivers and heavy-duty machine operators. Every day, women showcase their versatility and strength here at the busiest Port in the Western Hemisphere. This month we celebrate them and all women for their invaluable contributions.”

Volumes Up…For now

Seroka reported continued strong volumes at the Port during the month of February: “Following our record January, February, volume came in even stronger than initial projections. Last month we processed 802,000 container units, marking our second-best February on record. With that, we are up 2.5% over last year … We have now seen year-on-year growth for 17 of the last 19 months here in Los Angeles.” Seroka noted:” Starting with imports. Last month we landed … 413,000 TEUs, which is slightly above last year's strong February and 17% more than our five-year running average ongoing cargo. Front loading … a hedge against tariff concerns, has helped drive these numbers.”

Seroka admitted that exports from the Port are down: “Shifting over to the export side, we saw 109,000 outbound boxes. That is an 18% decrease from 2024. This is the third consecutive month of export declines. After two solid years of growth together with our ag and manufacturing stakeholders, we are keeping a close eye on the situation, especially as retaliatory tariffs now come into play.”

Overall, Seroka said that two months into 2025: “We've moved 1.7 million container units, a five and a half percent increase over 2024. And looking ahead, I estimate that we will maintain consistent volume rounding out the first quarter and into the second. However, at some point, we will start seeing a softening in volume, especially for bulk commodities.”