22.12.09US imports Down 9.3% in Oct.

With most holiday merchandise already on retailers' shelves or in their warehouses, December cargo volume at U.S. major container ports should be significantly below records set earlier this year, according to the monthly Global Port Tracker report released recently by the National Retail Federation (NRF) and Hackett Associates.

U.S. ports covered by Global Port Tracker handled two million TEUs of containers in October, down 1.3% from September and 9.3% from October 2021. Ports have not yet reported November's numbers, but Global Port Tracker projects the month at 1.85 million TEUs, down 12.3% year over year. That would be the lowest since 1.87 million TEUs in February 2021. December is forecast at 1.94 million TEUs, down 7.2%. Those numbers would bring 2022 to 25.81 million TEUs, down just 0.1% from last year's annual record of 25.84 million TEUs.

January 2023 is forecast at 1.97 million TEUs, down 8.8%. February is forecast at 1.67 million TEUs, the lowest since 1.61 million TEUs in June 2020 and a 20.9% drop from last year, when backed-up cargo kept congested ports busy. March is forecast at 1.91 million TEUs, down 18.6% year-over-year, and April is forecast at 1.95 million TEUs, down 13.8%.