News
U.S. imports set a second all-time monthly record high this summer as retailers brought in merchandise for the busy holiday season, and are continuing at unusually high levels this month, according to the monthly Global Port Tracker report.
Ports covered by Global Port Tracker handled 1.8 million TEUs in August, the latest month for which after-the-fact numbers are available. The volume was the highest recorded since NRF began tracking imports in 2000, topping the previous record of 1.78 million TEUs set just one month earlier in July. The record before that had been 1.73 million TEUs in March 2015. August was up 1.4 percent over July and 5.6 percent over August 2016.
September was estimated at 1.65 million TEUs, up 3.7 percent from last year, and October is forecast at 1.72 million TEUs, up 2.8 percent. While not a record, the October number would be one of only six times in the report's history that any month has hit 1.7 million TEUs or higher. November is forecast at 1.62 million TEUs, down 1.7 percent from last year, and December is forecast at 1.59 million TEUs, up 1.3 percent.
Growth has slowed from the first half of the year but 2017 is expected to total 19.8 million TEUs, topping last year's previous record of 18.8 million TEUs by 5.4 percent. That compares with 2016's 3.1 percent increase over 2015. The first half of 2017 totaled 9.7 million TEUs, up 7.5 percent from the same period in 2016.
January 2018 is forecast at 1.64 million TEUs, down 2 percent from January 2017, and February is forecast at 1.58 million TEUs, up 10 percent from the same month in 2017.
