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NWSA Cargo by the Numbers

June 11, 2025

Cargo operations in our region are managed by The Northwest Seaport Alliance (NWSA), which jointly operates the Ports of Seattle and Tacoma. On Mondays, the NWSA publishes a weekly update of its volumes and metrics for both ports

The updates below include both the North Harbor (Seattle) and South Harbor (Tacoma) for the Northwest Seaport Alliance (NWSA). 

Weekly Updates


Week of June 11 

Source: Northwest Seaport Alliance 

For the week ending May 30, volumes were down for the fourth consecutive week, and down significantly both week over week and year over year. International imports were down 27.7% from the week before and 41% from the 2024 weekly average. Truck trips were down 26% from the week before and 35.4% from the May 2024 weekly average. Vessel lifts were down 22.4% from the week before and 42.1% from the May 2024 weekly average.

This significant week over week drop was driven in large part by higher voids and one off-schedule vessel that was delayed into the following week. Almost all the vessels that did call were also carrying less volume than expected from recent trends.

Vessels that arrived the week of May 26 to May 30 would have departed Asia after several weeks of the higher tariff rates being in effect and before the pause was announced. This further reduction in volumes likely demonstrates the continued impacts of the elevated tariff rate. This recorded week is expected to be the low point of this dip, with fewer voids expected the two weeks after and vessels expected to be carrying higher volumes starting the following week. 


Weekly Vessel Arrival Snapshot
 

Week ending June 5

Source: Marine Exchange of Puget Sound

  • Overall vessel arrivals are more or less flat (53 --> 52)
  • Container ship arrivals swung back toward what we'd normally expect while tank vessels fell off 42%
CATEGORY LAST WEEK THIS WEEK % CHANGE
Bulk 5 4 -20%
Container 11 16 45%
General 1 2 100%
Other 3 0 -100%
Passenger 12 13 8%
Ro/Ro 3 2 -33%
Tanker 12 7 -42%
Tug/ATB 2 2 0%
Vehicles 4 6 50%
  53 52 -2%

Weekly Vessel Calls

Source: Northwest Seaport Alliance 

Week Ending Voyages Blank Sailings+ 
June 13 12 2
June 6 12 1
May 30 13 2
May 23 13 1
May 16 12 2
May 9 12 1
April 25 13 2

+ A "void sailing," also known as a "blank sailing," refers to a scheduled cargo ship service that skips a port or region it was supposed to visit. 


Vessels: Year over Year Change

Source: Marine Exchange of Puget Sound

May 1-23

Monthly comparisons to same time last year for Seattle and Tacoma

TYPE 2024 2025
Bulk 9 9
Container 18   20  
General 3 2
Other 2 0
Passenger   26 29
Tanker 0 2
Tug/ATB 0 2
Vehicles  1 0

2025 International Container Volumes (imports and exports)

Source: Northwest Seaport Alliance 

  • Bold = highest
  • Italics = lowest 
Month Imports (in TEUs) Exports (in TEUs)
December                
November    
October    
Q4 2025    
September    
August    
July    
Q3 2025    
June    
May    
April 109,481 103,903
Q2 2025    
March 115,813 126,993
February 108,883 97,788
January 116,916 99,392
Q1 2025 Up 23.9% with higher empty 
sailings at -9.8%
 
Up 24.5%
 

10-Year Historical Context 

Source: Northwest Seaport Alliance 

Below, you’ll find historical context for the last ten years in international container volumes (imports + exports + empty) by TEUs.

What’s a TEU?: The TEU stands for 20-foot equivalent unit, a standard that can be used to measure a ship’s cargo capacity. One TEU is 20 feet long and 8 feet tall.

  •  Bold = highest
  • Italics = lowest 
Year Imports Exports Empty
2024 1,289,198 636,507 684,540
2023           1,078,005 588,744  570,018
2022 COVID-19           1,249,746  561,244 838,552
2021 COVID-19           1,464,662 691,446  836,012
2020 COVID-19         1,253,818  790,620   591,198
2019           1,369,251 913,332  775,763
2018          1,452,623 953,495   705,114
2017           1,380,785   964,067 650,459
2016         1,391,590 984,274   482,951
2015           1,308,214   871,522 591,072

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