News
Next month’s inbound cargo volume at U.S. major container ports is expected to top two million units for the first time since last fall as imports grow despite new supply chain challenges, according to the Global Port Tracker report released recently by the National Retail Federation (NRF)and Hackett Associates.
Carriers have rerouted around the Red Sea and Suez Canal after attacks on vessels earlier this year while adding additional vessels and increasing vessel speed to make up for longer voyages. “Doing so has resulted in relatively stable supply chains within a short period of time,” said Ben Hackett, founder of Hackett Associates. “A word of caution, however, is that any further pressures on capacity could seriously impact the market.”
Baltimore is not included in Global Port Tracker’s national totals because its data are reported later than other ports, according to the NRF. However, its shutdown is having a regional impact, and cargo that would normally go there is being diverted to other East Coast ports. Baltimore handled 48,000 TEUs of containers in January.
The U.S. ports covered by Global Port Tracker handled a total of 1.96 million TEUs in February—down 0.3% from January but up 26.4% from February 2023—when many Asian factories were closed for the Lunar New Year holidays.
Ports have not yet reported their March’s numbers, but Global Port Tracker projected the month at 1.8 million TEUs, down 7.8% from February because of Lunar New Year’s impact but up 11% year over year. April is forecast at 1.93 million TEUs, up 8.4%, and May at 2.04 million TEUs, up 5.5% and the highest level since 2.06 million last October. June is forecast at two million TEUs, up 8.9%; July at 2.04 million TEUs, up 6.6% and August at 2.09 million TEUs, up 6.9%.
The first half of 2024 is expected to total 11.7 million TEUs, up 11% from the same period last year. Imports in 2023 totaled 22.3 million TEUs, down 12.8% from 2022.
