Plans by the Port of Los Angeles to build a new 200-acre, two-berth container terminal are being driven by projections that the Southern California gateway of LA and Long Beach will reach its combined capacity of 40 million TEUs in 2040.

The proposed Pier 500 container terminal, which will take about 10 years to complete once construction begins, will position the Southern California port complex of Los Angeles and Long Beach to handle growing cargo volumes well beyond 2040, Gene Seroka, executive director of the Port of Los Angeles, told the Journal of Commerce Thursday.

The LA-LB port complex, the largest in the US, handled a combined 19.9 million laden and empty TEUs in 2024, about a 20% increase over the previous year, according to data on the ports' websites.

“Infrastructure like this always has a 20- to 30-year horizon,”Seroka said.

Los Angeles earlier this week announced it was seeking proposals for the pre-development of Pier 500, which will have about 3,000 linear feet of available wharf space. It will be located just south of the port's Pier 400, the largest container terminal in the US and operated by APM Terminals.

No cost estimate was provided by the port. The TEU capacity of the new terminal will depend on the type of terminal the winning developer decides to build, whether manual or automated. And an actual construction timeline won't be known until all environmental clearances are secured.

Will seek PMA member to operate new terminal

In its request for proposals to develop Pier 500, Los Angeles will specify that it seeks to contract with a member company of the Pacific Maritime Association (PMA) that pledges to follow the guidelines for terminal operations on the US West Coast, Seroka said. The PMA, which consists of ocean carriers and terminal operators, negotiates and administers the coastwide waterfront contract with the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU).

The pre-development process will include all necessary environmental assessments required by both state and federal law.

“The entire proposed Pier 500 project, from pre-development, entitlement procurement and environmental review and full buildout and operation is expected to take approximately 10 years,”the port said in a statement.

Development and construction are expected to move forward faster than most new terminals built on landfill, Seroka said, because the port has identified a submerged 124-acre landfill site that is only 15 feet below the water line.

“We'll cap off the 15 feet, so construction should proceed quicker than for most projects,”Seroka said. “We've been dumping rocks there for years from various construction projects.”

While construction proceeds, Los Angeles will continue to implement operational improvements at the port and enhance its data-sharing efforts with port stakeholders, including shipping lines, terminal operators, drayage operators, railroads and warehouse operators, to squeeze greater productivity from the existing infrastructure, Seroka said.