Port of Los Angeles Seeks Proposal for Potential New Container Terminal

The Port of Los Angeles has started the first public steps in what could be a decade’s decade-long effort to develop its next container terminal.  The port published a Request for Proposal from interested parties to participate in the pre-development of the new terminal known as Pier 500.

Proposals are due by January 29, 2026, and they expect to select an entry to enter into a public-private pre-development agreement. The goal is to scope the project’s financial feasibility, procure entitlements, and handle other requirements needed before the project is implemented, and the build-out could begin.

The Port of Los Angeles currently has seven major container terminals and six intermodal rail yards for the handling of containers. It is generally the busiest container port in the United States, mostly rivaled by neighboring Long Beach, and from time to time, the Port of New York and New Jersey. Los Angeles peaked in 2021 at 10.7 million TEU  and again at nearly 10.3 million in 2024. Despite the trade uncertainties, the port was approximately 4.5 percent ahead of last year as of the end of August, having handled more than 6.9 million TEU, although volumes were expected to decline in the fall. On a monthly basis, the port has twice exceeded 1 million TEU, in May 2021 and again in July 2025.

“For the first time in a generation, the Port of Los Angeles plans to build a new container terminal to meet global supply chain demand for decades into the future,” said Port of Los Angeles Executive Director Gene Seroka. “The development of the cleanest terminal possible would enhance our efficiency and sustainability while creating new jobs in our communities.” 

Located in natural deep water on the southern tip of the port’s Terminal Island, Seroka says the project site would greatly increase port cargo efficiency, as it would allow for bigger, next generation cargo ships. Carriers have so far reserved the 24,000-plus TEU ultra-large container vessels for routes to Europe, but Los Angeles has handled a few ULCCs, although generally the routes see the sub-20,000 TEU large vessels.

 

Rendering of the proposed area for the Pier 500 terminal (Port of Los Angeles)

 

As proposed, Pier 500 would be a 200-acre site with two new berths and approximately 3,000 linear feet of new available wharf along the Pier 400 Channel. The proposed Pier 500 project would allow the Port to leverage existing available space. The port identified a submerged site of 124 acres, infrastructure that was added during the construction of the adjacent Pier 400 before it was completed in 2002, which would now be used to create Pier 500.

Pier 400, the site of APM Terminal, opened in August 2002, is currently the largest container terminal at the port. APM highlights it has a capacity of 4.4 million TEU and five berths with a total of 507 acres and 19 super post-Panamax ship-to-shore cranes. Pier 400 is the largest container port terminal in the Western Hemisphere. 
 
The pre-development process for Pier 500 will include all necessary environmental assessments as required under the California Environmental Quality Act and the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). The entire proposed Pier 500 project—from pre-development, entitlement procurement, and environmental review to full build-out and operation—is expected to take approximately 10 years.