News
U.S. major container ports are expected to see another busy month in September ahead of a potential labor strike at East Coast and Gulf Coast ports, according to the Global Port Tracker report released today by the National Retail Federation (NRF) and Hackett Associates.
The U.S. ports covered by Global Port Tracker handled 2.32 million TEUs of containers in July, up 8.1% from June and up 21% year over year for the highest July on record.
Global Port Tracker projects 2.37 million TEUs in August, up 20.9% year over year and the highest level since the record of 2.4 million TEU set in May 2022. September is forecast at 2.31 million TEUs, up 14%; October at 2.08 million TEUs, up 1.3%; November at 1.92 million TEUs, up 1.6% and December at 1.89 million TEUs, up 0.9%. That would bring 2024 to 24.98 million TEUs, up 12.3% from 2023. The first half of 2024 totaled 12.1 million TEUs, up 14.8% over the same period in 2023. January 2025 is forecast at 1.96 million TEU, down 0.3% year over year.
The import numbers come as NRF is forecasting that 2024 retail sales–excluding automobile dealers, gasoline stations and restaurants to focus on core retail–will grow between 2.5% and 3.5% over 2023.
