News
US retail imports seen during 2020 appear to be headed toward a new record despite the coronavirus pandemic, and remain at high levels as 2021 begins, according to the Global Port Tracker report.
U.S. ports covered by Global Port Tracker handled 2.11 million TEUs in November, the latest month for which final numbers are available. That was up 24.5 percent year-over-year but down 4.9 percent from October's 2.21 million TEUs, which set the record for the largest number of containers handled during a single month since NRF began tracking imports in 2002.
December was projected at 2.02 million TEUs, down 17.3 percent year-over-year but still one of only six times in nearly 20 years that the monthly total has hit the 2 million TEU mark. If the December number holds up once actual data is available, 2020 will have ended with a total of 21.9 million TEUs, up 1.5 percent from 2019 and breaking the previous annual record of 21.8 million TEUs set in 2018.
Imports during the last half of 2020 set a string of new records, including an all-time high of 8.3 million TEUs for the July-October peak season when retailers rush to bring in merchandise for the winter holidays each year.
January is forecast at 1.96 million TEUs, which would be up 7.7 percent from a year ago and the busiest January on record; February at 1.6 million TEUs, up 6.1 percent year-over-year, and March at 1.64 million TEUs, up 19 percent from March 2020, when factories in China failed to reopen after the Lunar New Year holiday because of the coronavirus. April is forecast at 1.76 million TEUs, up 9.6 percent, and May at 1.86 million TEUs, up 21.7 percent, both year-over-year.
