News
Monthly inbound cargo volumes at U.S. major container ports should consistently be above two million TEUs through this summer and into early fall, according to the Global Port Tracker (GPT) report released recently by the National Retail Federation (NRF) and Hackett Associates.
“Even with a shift in spending from goods to services, U.S. consumers continue to spend on goods,” Hackett Associates Founder Ben Hackett said, noting a recent downturn in containerized products like furniture, clothing and electronics. “There has been a surge of container imports on all three coasts, with the strongest being the Gulf, followed by the Pacific and the East Coast.”
The U.S. ports covered by GPT handled 1.93 million TEUs of containers in March, down 1.4% from February but up 18.7% from March 2023, when Asian exports were slow after Lunar New Year shutdowns.
The ports have not yet reported April’s numbers, but GPT has projected the month at 1.96 million TEUs, up 10% year over year. May is forecast at 2.06 million TEUs, up 6.8% to tie last October for the highest level since 2.26 million TEUs in August 2022. June is forecast at 2.03 million TEUs, up 10.7% from the same month last year; July at 2.02 million TEUs, up 5.5%; August at 2.1 million TEUs, up 7.1%, and September at 2.04 million TEUs, up 0.5%.
The combined monthly volume at the ports has reached the two-million-TEU mark only twice since a 19-month streak that ended in October 2022.
The first half of 2024 is expected to total 11.9 million TEUs, up 13% from the same period last year.
