File photo. 

Add another month to the books: the Port of Long Beach (POLB) announced today that last month was its busiest September in its 104-year history, stating that cargo flow has reached its pre-Recession levels.

The announcement comes after the Port experienced record cargo flow numbers in July and August, and just as U.S. stores begin to stock their shelves with Halloween and holiday items.

“In recent months, Long Beach has seen a robust return of once-diverted cargo,” said POLB CEO Jon Slangerup in a statement. “We greatly appreciate our shippers’ continued confidence in the Port of Long Beach.”

September traffic was up by 4.1 percent from September of 2014, reaching 655,624 total twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) of boxed cargo. As a whole, the third quarter (July through September) bested the third quarter of 2014 by 14.8 percent—topping two million TEUs for the first time.

Cargo traffic in August increased 22.8 percent over August 2014, and it increased 18.4 percent over cargo traffic in July 2014.

The first nine months of 2015 mark an increase of 5.2 percent in cargo volume compared to the first nine months of 2014. If the Port continued to experience cargo volume at this rate, it would finish the year with more than 7 million TEUs in its history. The Port has not recorded numbers that high since 2007, according to a release issued today by the POLB.

Imports dipped in September by 1.9 percent compared to September 2014, at 332,909 TEUs and exports grew 6.1 percent to 125,639 TEUs. Empty containers increased from 14.6 percent to 197,076 TEUs, as exports outnumber imports and empty containers were sent overseas to be filled.

In total, the third quarter experienced an increase in imports of 10.6 percent and an increase in exports of 10.5 percent compared to the third quarter of 2014.