News
Imports set another record high this spring, according to the monthly Global Port Tracker report released last Friday by the National Retail Federation (NRF) and Hackett Associates. “Cargo volume is expected to remain high as we head into the peak shipping season,” NRF Vice President for Supply Chain and Customs Policy Jonathan Gold said.
U.S. ports covered by Global Port Tracker handled 2.4 million TEUs of containers in May, That was up 6 percent from April and up 2.7 percent year over year. It also set a new record for the number of containers imported in a single month since NRF began tracking imports in 2002, topping 2.34 million TEUs this March. Global Port Tracker projected 2.25 million TEUs in June, up 4.8 percent from the same month last year. That would bring the first half of the year to 13.5 million TEUs, a 5.4 percent increase year over year. July is forecast at 2.31 million TEUs, up 5.3 percent from last year, and would be the fourth-busiest month on record. August is forecast at 2.26 million TEUs, down 0.5 percent year over year; September at 2.12 million TEUs, down 0.8 percent; October also at 2.12 million TEUs, down 4.1 percent, and November at 2.06 million TEUs, down 2.5 percent.
The year-over-year declines during the second half of the year contrast with unusually high numbers during the same period in 2021, but volumes remain high, and the full year is still expected to see a net increase over 2021. Imports for all of 2021 totaled 25.8 million TEUs, a 17.4 percent increase over 2020's previous annual record of 22 million TEUs.
