Data shows resilience, growth; loaded containers up 15 percent from the previous year

The Port of Oakland experienced a solid 2024, processing 2.26 million TEUs (twenty-foot containers), representing a 9.5% increase over 2023. The 2024 cargo data reflects a long-term growth trend in consumer spending in the San Francisco Bay Area and in the rest of the country.

“Consumer demand has remained resilient, driving higher import volumes through the Port,” said Port of Oakland Maritime Director Bryan Brandes. “This performance underscores the port’s strong foundation for continued growth and its critical role in global trade.”

On the full container side, imports saw a strong 15% increase in 2024, while exports grew by 5.4% year over year, highlighting balanced growth across key markets. Despite an 8% decline in the overall U.S. refrigerated (reefer) market in 2024, the Port of Oakland demonstrated resilience, limiting reefer volume declines to just 4%, thereby significantly outperforming broader market trends. Leading the reefer category were beef (36,000 TEUs) and pork (31,000 TEUs), with most of this cargo handled directly at the port.

In the dry cargo market, imports were led by furniture (110,000 TEUs), plastic products (60,000 TEUs), and batteries (37,000 TEUs), with the latter contributing $6.7 billion in cargo value. On the export side, wastepaper dominated with nearly 130,000 TEUs, while the export of nuts reached an impressive 83,000 TEUs, valued at over $4 billion.