According to Global Port Tracker’s report released by National Retail Federation and Hackett Associates, import cargo volume at the US’ major retail container ports is expected to decline year-over-year for the next few months but the first half of the year should still amount to a 4.5 per cent increase compared with the same period last year.
Ports that Global Port Tracker covered handled 1.43 million Twenty-Foot Equivalent Units (one TEU is one 20-foot-long cargo container or its equivalent) in December. As the month is marked as holiday time, volume was down 3.4 per cent from November and 0.8 per cent from the year before. That brought 2015 to a total of 18.2 million TEU, up 5.3 per cent from 2014.
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As per the report, forecast for the month of February is at 1.39 million TEU, up 16.2 per cent. March is forecast at 1.35 million TEU, down 22.4 per cent from high levels seen when a flood of backlogged cargo followed the contract agreement. Patterns are expected to return closer to normal in April, which is forecast at 1.49 million TEU, down 1.2 per cent from last year. May is forecast at 1.57 million TEU, down 2.6 per cent, and June at 1.55 million TEU, down 1.2 per cent. The first half of 2016 is expected to total 8.8 million TEU.
Jonathan Gold, Vice President – Supply Chain and Customs Policy at NRF said, “Retailers are carefully managing their inventories but still need to stock up on seasonal goods for spring and summer. Comparisons with last year are difficult because of the surge of cargo after problems at West Coast ports ended, but we think consumers will continue to increase their spending this year and retailers will be ready.”
