News
Imports to the U.S.' major container ports have already hit an expected peak for the year and should gradually slow headed into the holiday season, according to the Global Port Tracker report released recently by the National Retail Federation and Hackett Associates."Cargo volumes will still be strong the rest of the year, but not as high as we expected a month ago,"said NRF Vice President for Supply Chain and Customs Policy Jonathan Gold. With consumers worried over the impact of inflation and high interest rates-particularly for groceries, automobiles and mortgages-discretionary spending growth is slowing, and retail cargo imports are expected to decline, according to Ben Hackett, the founder of Hackett Associates.
Consumer spending grew 1.8% year over year in the second quarter rather than the 2.3% originally estimated, and NRF said last month that retail sales for the year could come in at the low end of its forecast of a 4%-6% year-over-year growth. "Retailers are working to strike the right balance of supply and demand," said Gold.
Inbound cargo to the U.S. ports covered by Global Port Tracker had been forecast to reach two million TEUs in August. Instead, they handled 1.96 million TEUs. They were up 2.3% from July but down 13.5% year over year.
Global Port Tracker projects 1.94 million TEUs in September, down 4.3% and 1.94 million TEUs in October, down 3.1%.For November, 1.91 million TEUs are anticipated, up 7.5%, which would be the first year-over-year gain since June 2022. Global Port Tracker envisages 1.88 million TEUs in December, up 8.9%, which would bring 2023 to 22.1 million TEUs in total, down 13.5% from last year; 1.88 million TEUs in January 2024, up 4.2% and 1.74 million TEUs in February, up 12.7%.
