Port of Los Angeles Executive Director Gene Seroka hosted a media briefing and interview with Pacific Maritime Association (PMA) President and CEO Jim McKenna today, discussing a wide range of issues, including the upcoming longshore labor contract negotiations.

The PMA represents 70 ocean carriers, terminal operators and maritime companies that do business at the 29 West Coast ports. McKenna discussed the challenges of operating during a pandemic, the outlook for cargo volume moving forward as well as workforce training and development.

Meanwhile, Seroka estimated that April cargo volume would be about 890,000 Twenty-Foot Equivalent Units, making it the second busiest April in the Port’s history and only trailing last April’s 946,000 TEU mark.

The Port will issue a news release as soon as final April data is available.

Seroka noted that despite COVID-19 lockdowns in parts of China, there has been no dramatic change in the amount of vessels or cargo leaving China.

“While conditions could change,” Seroka said, “I don’t foresee a bust coming in Trans-Pacific trade. More likely, we may see a lull in volume with a fairly quick bounce back when the lockdowns end.”

The busiest seaport in the Western Hemisphere, the Port of Los Angeles is North America’s leading trade gateway and has ranked as the number one container port in the United States for 22 consecutive years. In 2021, the Port facilitated $294 billion in trade and handled a total of 10.7 million container units, the busiest calendar year in the Port’s 115-year history. San Pedro Bay port complex operations and commerce facilitate one in nine jobs across the counties of Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino and Ventura.