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 1.2 percent this month over the same time last year as retailers head toward the holiday season.
“After supply chain worries earlier this year, inventories are plentiful this fall,” says Jonathan Gold, NRF Vice President for Supply Chain and Customs Policy. “Shoppers should have no worries about finding what they’re looking for as they begin their holiday shopping.”
Ports covered by Global Port Tracker handled 1.62 million Twenty-Foot Equivalent Units (TEU) in July, the latest month for which after-the-fact numbers are available. That was up 2.9 percent from June and 8.1 percent from July of last year. One TEU is one 20-foot-long cargo container or its equivalent.
August was estimated at 1.6 million TEU, up 5.5 percent from last year. September is forecast at 1.61 million TEU, up 1.2 percent from last year, while October is forecast at 1.62 million TEU, up 3.8 percent; November at 1.5 million TEU, up 7.9 percent; and December at 1.44 million TEU, down 0.2 percent. Those numbers would bring this year to a total of 18.2 million TEU, up 5.4 percent from last year.