News
The rate of import growth at the U.S. 's major retail container ports has begun to slow after double-digit surges earlier this year but volume should nonetheless hit an all-time high by the end of the summer, according to the National Retail Federation and Hackett Associates.
Ports covered handled 1.61 million TEUs in April, the latest month for which after-the-fact numbers are available. That was up 4.8 percent from March and up 11.3 percent from April 2016.
May was estimated at 1.69 million TEUs, up 3.9 percent from the same time last year. June is forecast at 1.64 million TEUs, up 4.1 percent from last year; July at 1.68 million TEUs, up 3.5 percent; August at 1.74 million TEUs, up 1.6 percent; September at 1.64 million TEUs, up 2.8 percent, and October at 1.69 million TEUs, up 1.3 percent.
The August figure would be the highest monthly volume recorded since NRF began tracking imports in 2000, topping the 1.73 million TEUs seen in March 2015. The May and October numbers would be among the five highest ever recorded.
