According to the monthly Global Port Tracker report released today by the National Retail Federation (NRF) and Hackett Associates, import cargo volume at the nation’s major retail container ports is expected to increase 3.6 percent this month over the same time last year, as retailers begin to bring in merchandise for the holiday season. Imports for the year are expected to be up 4.2 percent over last year.
Ports covered by Global Port Tracker handled 1.57 million Twenty-Foot Equivalent Units (TEU) in June, the latest month for which after-the-fact numbers are available. That number was down 2.5 percent from an unusually busy May, but up 6.2 percent from June of last year. One TEU is one 20-foot-long cargo container or its equivalent.
July was estimated at 1.59 million TEU, up 6 percent from last year, while August is forecast at 1.57 million TEU, which is up 3.6 percent; September at 1.59 million TEU, down 0.1 percent; October at 1.58 million TEU, up 1.2 percent; November at 1.45 million TEU, up 4.5 percent, and December at 1.4 million TEU, down 2.8 percent.
Those numbers would bring 2015 to a total of 18 million TEU, up 4.2 percent from last year. The first half of this year totaled 8.9 million TEU, up 6.5 percent over the same period last year.
According to Ben Hackett, the founder of Hackett Associates, some retailers are paying less to transport their merchandise this year, thanks to the use of more large-capacity ships by ocean carriers. Hackett said the increased capacity has driven down rates, but the relief could be short-lived because some lines have already canceled voyages to counteract the trend.
