Port container volumes on the West Coast and East Coast declined in November, although shippers were focused on different factors.

As the International Longshore and Warehouse Union and the Pacific Maritime Association continue to negotiate, the head of one of the nation’s busiest ports said he thinks a labor agreement may not be reached until February.

Ongoing concern about labor and management talks regarding two separate contract negotiations and a slowing U.S. economy resulted in a big drop in container volume at two of the nation’s biggest ports on the Pacific Coast.

The number of containers arriving at the Port of Los Angeles dropped by the most since the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic last month, an early indication that consumer demand could be starting to moderate.

The Port of Los Angeles had its best-ever July, officials announced Aug. 17, outpacing the same month last year, which was the previous record, by 5%.

In January, a record 109 ships awaited entry into the combined ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, often stretching to south Orange County. On Aug. 11, that number stood at nine ships.

The new federal port envoy said he is “very optimistic” about the progress being made to unkink the nation’s seaports and supply chain.

President Joe Biden’s administration is trying to avert another inflation-spawning logjam at the nation’s busiest seaport, just as the economy is starting to recover from the last one.

Another month, another all-time monthly record at the Port of Los Angeles, the nation’s busiest port facility.

The bottlenecked ports in Los Angeles face a narrow window between now and midyear to clear container backlogs before another import surge and union contract talks threaten to stall progress moving record volumes of cargo through the busiest U.S. gateway for trade.