长滩港码头运营商上月处理了774,935个20英尺标准集装箱（TEU），与2025年3月的集装箱处理量相比下降了5.2%，反映出其姐妹门户洛杉矶港吞吐量放缓的情况。
与洛杉矶港一样，长滩枢纽并未受到伊朗战争的直接影响。但长滩港首席执行官诺埃尔·哈塞加巴在周三的新闻简报中表示，由于中东冲突，“全球供应链压力确实在增加”。上个月进口量下降了1.6%，降至374,412 TEU，而出口量略有上升，达到104,554 TEU。通过港口的空箱量下降了11.1%，降至295,970 TEU。
与许多美国主要海港一样，由于去年3月进口商在4月关税上调前提前备货，导致同比基数较高，使得今年长滩港面临艰难的对比。尽管如此，该港口的码头工人在3月和第一季度处理的TEU总量仍位居北美之首。从1月到3月，共有近240万个TEU通过长滩港码头，同比下降5.7%。
全美零售联合会（NRF）负责供应链和海关政策的副总裁乔纳森·戈尔德指出，预计至少在2026年上半年，美国主要集装箱港口的进口预测将低于去年水平。虽然戈尔德同意港口不会受到伊朗战争的重大直接影响，但由于霍尔木兹海峡交通受限导致燃料成本上升，最终可能会影响到零售商和消费者。随着零售商努力灵活应对中东局势的演变，中小型企业感到的冲击尤其严重。
Port of Long Beach terminal operators handled 774,935 20-foot equivalent units (TEUs) of cargo last month, a 5.2 percent decline from March 2025 container handling numbers, mirroring the slower throughput from its sister gateway, the Port of Los Angeles.
Like the L.A. port, the Long Beach hub has seen no direct impacts from the war in Iran, in that it hasn’t been the catalyst for the reduced cargo volumes. But Port of Long Beach CEO Noel Hacegaba indicated during a Wednesday media briefing that “global supply chain pressures are indeed mounting” due to the Middle East conflict.
Imports last month declined 1.6 percent to 374,412 TEUs when compared to prior-year numbers, while exports showed a 0.5 percent uptick to 104,554 TEUs. Empty containers moving through the port dropped 11.1 percent to 295,970 TEUs.
Like many major U.S. seaports, the L.B. gateway is enduring a tough year-over-year baseline comparison against last March, when importers front-loaded cargo ahead of April’s Liberation Day tariffs.
But the tough comparisons did not stop the port’s dockworkers from handling the highest total number of TEUs in North America, both for March and the first quarter. Across January through March, nearly 2.4 million TEUs passed through the terminals at the Port of Long Brach, representing a 5.7 percent drop year over year.
During the briefing, Jonathan Gold, vice president of supply chain and customs policy at the National Retail Federation (NRF), noted that the forecast for imports at major U.S. container ports is expected to remain below last year’s levels for at least the first half of 2026.
While Gold concurred that the ports will not be significantly impacted by the Iran war, the rising fuel costs due to the constriction of traffic through the Strait of Hormuz could eventually effect retailers and consumers.
As retailers aim to be nimble as the situation in the Middle East unfolds, small-to-medium-sized businesses (SMBs) are feeling a disproportionate hit to their business due to the elevated costs, he
“Retailers already operate on an extremely slim margin, and small businesses in particular don’t have the ability to absorb cost increases and typically have to pass those along to the the end consumer,” Gold said. “Certainly, the smaller retailers are more impacted by some of these immediate changes than larger companies are.”
Hacegaba noted that the rerouting of ships to avoid the conflict zone is setting off a chain reaction resulting in longer routes, further amplifying the cost increases.
“Ultimately, consumers pay more,” the port CEO said.
However, the consumer has been resilient despite the price increases.
“We still see a strong consumer demand in 2026,” Gold said, citing NRF’s annual projections of a 4.4 percent retail sales increase in 2026. “The consumer remains the bright spot in our economy despite all the various policy and geopolitical challenges that we’ve faced.”
According to Gold, the NRF was “pleased” with the Federal M
