Another stellar October put the Port of Los Angeles on track for its record-breaking second consecutive calendar year – and has it poised to combine with its neighbor, the Port of Long Beach, for 20 million equivalent units to twenty feet moved in 2021..

The Port of Los Angeles on Thursday, November 18, reported more than 900,000 TEUs, the standard measure of cargo, last month.

And while that’s an 8% drop from October 2020, the year-to-date numbers stand at around 15% from last year as a whole. And October 2020 saw the most cargo moved this month in the port’s history – a high that came amid a record-breaking month streak. In October 2019, the port declared 770,188 TEUs, about 17% less than last month.

The Port of LA expects to reach 10.8 million TEUs for this calendar year, breaking the 2020 record.

Along with the Port of Long Beach, approximately 20 million TEUs are expected to pass through the San Pedro Bay complex this year.

The Port of Long Beach moved 789,716 TEUs last month, down 2.1% from October 2020, but 14.7% better than the same period in 2019. Until October, the Port of Long Beach had moved about 7.9 million TEUs this year, an increase of 21%. compared to the first 10 months of 2020.

The twin ports are the two busiest in the country.

The October numbers come amid what has been a global supply chain crisis. ships are piling up outside the twin ports in unprecedented numbers.

As of Thursday, for example, 100 ships were at anchor or adrift, Port of Los Angeles executive director Gene Seroka said. Seventy-five of them were container ships.

Another 24 container ships will arrive over the next three days, he said, nine of which are scheduled for the Port of LA and the rest for Long Beach.

Eighteen container ships were docked on Thursday, Seroka added, around 80% more than the average number typically served.

Meanwhile, efforts to empty the docks of old cargoes are paying off, Seroka said, reporting a 31% drop in such containers since Oct. 24.

Empty containers in October rose to 337,106 TEU, a jump of 2% from the same month last year. Ten months after the start of 2021, the Port of LA handled some 9.1 million TEUs.