News
Imports to major U.S. container ports are expected to begin slowly climbing again this month, according to the Global Port Tracker, in which the National Retail Federation (NRF) and Hackett Associates give six-month freight-movement projections.
U.S. ports covered by the Global Port Tracker handled 1.81 million TEUs of containers in January, down 16.5% year over year but up 4.4% from December for the first month-over-month increase since last August.
The Global Port Tracker projects that imports dropped to 1.56 million TEUs in February, down 13.6% from January and down an unusually large 26.2% from a year earlier. That would make it the slowest month since 1.53 million TEUs in May 2020, when many factories in Asia and most U.S. stores were closed due to the coronavirus pandemic. Since the beginning of the pandemic, only the 1.51 million TEUs recorded in February 2020 and 1.37 million TEUs in March 2020 have been lower.
Beginning this month, imports are expected to climb at least through mid-summer but nonetheless remain below last year's levels. March is forecast at 1.74 million TEUs, down 25.9% year over year.
