News
With West Coast longshoremen still negotiating a new contract, retailers are bringing holiday merchandise into the country at record levels to protect against potential supply chain disruptions, according to the monthly Global Port Tracker report released recently by the National Retail Federation and Hackett Associates.
Import volume at major U.S. container ports is expected to total 1.5 million containers this month. This is the highest monthly volume in at least five years and follows a trend of unusually high import levels that began this spring as retailers worked to import merchandise ahead of any potential problems.
The contract between the Pacific Maritime Association and the International Longshore and Warehouse Union expired on July 1. Dockworkers remain on the job as both sides continue to negotiate a new agreement, and NRF has urged both labor and management to avoid any disruptions that could affect the flow of back-to-school or holiday merchandise.
U.S. ports followed by Global Port Tracker handled 1.48 million TEUs in May, the latest month for which after-the-fact numbers are available. That was up 3.7 percent from April and 6.6 percent from May 2013.
June was estimated at 1.46 million TEUs, up 7.6 percent from the same month last year, and July is forecast at 1.5 million TEUs, up 4.3 percent from last year. August is forecast at 1.51 million TEUs, up 1.6 percent from last year; September at 1.45 million TEUs, up 1 percent; October at 1.49 million TEUs, up 3.8 percent; and November at 1.39 million TEUs, up 3.6 percent.
The first half of the year is expected to total 8.3 million TEUs, up 6.7 percent over last year. The total for 2013 was 16.2 million TEUs, up 2.3 percent from 2012’s 15.8 million TEUs.
