News / 'Significant migration' of USWC imports to Canadian ports, says Sea-Intelligence

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North American west coast container flows are showing signs of a structural shift – with Canadian ports gaining market share at the expense of their US rivals, according to Sea-Intelligence. 

Looking at Q1 26 throughput at the major west coast gateways, the analyst noted “a significant cargo migration northward”, with Prince Rupert and Vancouver the principal beneficiaries. 

While overall NAWC laden import volumes fell 3.9% year on year in Q1, the contraction was almost entirely seen at US ports, with every major gateway reporting volume declines. 

The Northwest Seaport Alliance grouping suffered the sharpest drop, of 18%, followed by Oakland (-6.8%), Long Beach )-5.6%), and Los Angeles (-3.6%). 

Sea-Intelligence said the figures pointed to “a deliberate” rerouting by shippers and carriers northward, driven partly by the US-China trade war and concerns over US west coast congestion and labour disruption. 

Indeed, Vancouver recorded a 9% Q1 rise in laden imports, to more than 491,000 teu, while Prince Rupert posted 7.8% growth.  

The analysis also underscored a broader weakness in transpacific import demand, volumes slipping from around 3.63m teu in Q1 25 to 3.49m teu. 

“The flatlining of NAWC laden import volumes over the past three quarters is quite obviously a consequence of the US trade war,” said Sea-Intelligence, noting that Canadian ports were also benefiting from shippers’ “proactive risk-aversion strategies”. 

However, growth in North America’s laden exports was positive across every major west coast port in Q1, volumes rising 2.4% year on year, to approximately 1.27m teu. 

But while Prince Rupert recorded the strongest increase, surging 17%, Long Beach and Los Angeles posted gains of just 3% and 2.2%, respectively. 

Sea-Intelligence said the export performance provided “a critical macroeconomic counterweight to the cooling import environment”, suggesting North American agricultural and industrial producers were “finding renewed traction in overseas markets”. 

Meanwhile, Southern California’s persistent empty-container imbalance continues to weigh on operational efficiency, noted Sea-Intelligence. Los Angeles and Long Beach together handled around 1.68m empty export teu in Q1, compared with just 654,000 laden export boxes. 

“This staggering 2.58:1 ratio of empty to loaded exports demonstrates that the economics of transpacific shipping remains heavily skewed,” the analyst said. 

And carriers continue to prioritise the rapid repositioning of empty containers back to Asian manufacturing centres rather than waiting to load lower-margin US exports, particularly agricultural cargo. 

Long Beach exported nearly 890,000 empty containers against only 301,000 laden exports, while Los Angeles shipped almost 800,000 empties compared with 353,000 loaded boxes. 

Sea-Intelligence argued the imbalance underscored a growing conflict between carrier priorities and terminal efficiency. 

“Carriers prioritise rapid equipment turnaround, often finding it more profitable to rush empty boxes back to high-yield Asian origins than to wait for low-margin North American exports,” it said. “Conversely, ports seek to maximise revenue per crane move and yard slot.” 

Despite the imbalance, there were signs of marginal improvement in terminal density, as the repositioning of empties slowed slightly faster than the decline in laden volumes. Coast-wide terminal density increased, from 64.5% to 66.1%, year on year.