News
Imports at U.S. major container ports are expected to slow significantly for the remainder of the year, but 2022 should still see a net gain over 2021, according to the monthly Global Port Tracker report released recently by the National Retail Federation and Hackett Associates.
U.S. ports covered by Global Port Tracker handled 2.25 million TEUs of containers in June. That was down 5.9% from May's 2.4 million TEUs but up 4.9% year over year. June's results brought the first half of the year to 13.5 million TEUs, a 5.5% increase year over year.
Ports have not yet reported July's numbers, but Global Port Tracker projected the month at 2.26 million TEUs, up 3.2%. August is forecast at 2.2 million TEUs, down 3%; September at 2.15 million TEUs, up 0.4%; October at 2.13 million TEUs, down 3.9%; November at 2.06 million TEUs, down 2.7% and December at 2.03 million TEUs, down 3%.
Those numbers would bring the second half of the year to 12.8 million TEUs, down 1.5% from the same period of last year. But 2022 overall is expected to total 26.3 million TEUs, up 2% from last year's annual record of 25.8 million TEUs.
The cargo data comes as NRF continues to forecast that 2022 retail sales will grow between 6% and 8% over 2021. Sales were up 7% during the first half of the year.
