Global News North American Port Rankings: Mexico volume growth highlights nearshoring momentum

The Mexican ports of Manzanillo and Lazaro Cardenas last year experienced strong cargo growth in another sign of Asia inputs fueling increased export production for US and other markets, with both ports rising in the Journal of Commerce’s rankings of the busiest North American gateways as measured by laden volumes.

Container traffic through Manzanillo rose nearly 7% year over year in 2023, pushing the Pacific Coast port up two spots to become the fifth-busiest port in North America following Los Angeles, New York-New Jersey, Long Beach and Savannah. Cosco, CMA CGM, Mediterranean Shipping Co. and OOCL this spring have added container services connecting to Manzanillo.

Lazaro Cardenas supplanted Oakland as the 11th-busiest container port in North America, according to the annual rankings. The new MSC and CMA CGM services also call Lazaro Cardenas. Mexico’s Port of Altamira rose one spot to 19th.

Other notable changes to the rankings include Vancouver and Miami each slipping one spot from 2022 to land in the sixth and 16th slots, respectively, for 2023. Prince Rupert, Jacksonville and Mobile each rose a notch in the rankings. Journal of Commerce Top 25 North American Container Ports by Exports Annual containerized exports, in laden TEU
The Journal of Commerce Top 25 North American Container Ports by Exports handled 93.6% (14.1 million TEUs) of the 14.1 million TEUs in total North American containerized exports in 2023. Total export volumes at the Top 25 North American ports, which include 17 US ports, four in Canada, and four in Mexico, decreased 2.2% year over year in 2023. Leading the outbound North American container trade in 2023 were the ports of Houston, Savannah and Los Angeles with a combined volume of 3.9 million TEU, up 6.2% year over year and representing 26.2% of overall North American exports.Echoes of the pandemic market

Ranking includes container ports in Canada, Mexico and the United States, omitting ports in U.S. territories and possessions.

US TEU count includes all international containerized ocean borne cargo loading at US ports. Lakes cargo data as available.

1 Combined volumes of Seattle and Tacoma, members of The Northwest Seaport Alliance.
2 Halifax volume includes empty containers.

Sources: Mexico: Ministry of Communications and Transportation; Canada: Port authorities; US: PIERS (www.piers.com), a sister product of the Journal of Commerce within S&P Global, and port authorities. Journal of Commerce Top 25 North American Container Ports by Imports Annual containerized imports, in laden TEU
The Journal of Commerce Top 25 North American Container Ports by Imports handled 95.9% (29.5 million TEUs) of the 29.5 million TEUs in total North American containerized imports in 2023. Total import volumes at the Top 25 North American ports, which include 16 US ports, four in Canada and five in Mexico, decreased 11.7% year over year in 2023. Leading the inbound North American container trade in 2023 were the ports of Los Angeles, New York-New Jersey and Long Beach, with a combined volume of 11.8 million TEUs, down 14.5 percent year over year and representing 38.2 percent of total North American imports.

Ranking includes container ports in Canada, Mexico and the United States, omitting ports in U.S. territories and possessions.

US TEU count includes all international containerized ocean borne cargo loading at US ports. Lakes cargo data as available.

1 Combined volumes of Seattle and Tacoma, members of The Northwest Seaport Alliance.
2 Volumes include empty containers.

Sources: Mexico: Ministry of Communications and Transportation; Canada: Port authorities; US: PIERS (www.piers.com), a sister product of the Journal of Commerce within S&P Global, and port authorities.