News
Imports at the U.S.'s major retail container ports are expected to grow steadily throughout the summer despite the prospect of heavy tariffs on goods from China, according to the monthly Global Port Tracker report released by the National Retail Federation and Hackett Associates.
Ports covered by Global Port Tracker handled 1.54 million TEUs in March, the latest month for which after-the-fact numbers are available. That was down 8.6 percent from February because of Lunar New Year factory shutdowns in Asia but down only 0.7 percent year-over-year.
April was estimated at 1.73 million TEUs, up 6.4 percent year-over-year. May is forecast at 1.82 million TEUs, up 4.3 percent from last year; June also at 1.82 million TEUs, up 6.1 percent; July at 1.9 million TEUs, up 5.5 percent; August at 1.92 million TEUs, up 4.6 percent, and September at 1.82 million TEUs, up 2.1 percent.
The first half of 2018 is expected to total 10.4 million TEUs, an increase of 5.8 percent over the first half of 2017. The total for 2017 was 20.5 million TEUs, up 7.6 percent from 2016's previous record of 19.1 million TEUs.
