News
Imports to U.S. major container ports should continue at elevated levels this month despite a strike that briefly shut down operations from Maine to Texas last week, according to a Global Port Tracker (GPT) report released by the National Retail Federation (NRF) and Hackett Associates.
Members of the International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) went on strike at East Coast and Gulf Coast container ports on Oct. 1 after their contract with the U.S. Maritime Alliance (USMA) expired. But the strike lasted only three days, ending after a tentative agreement was reached on a wage increase and a short-term contract extension until Jan. 15, 2024.
The U.S. ports covered by GPT handled 2.34 million TEUs of containers in August, although the Ports of New York and New Jersey and Miami have yet to report final data. It was up 0.9% from July and 19.3% year over year for the highest volume since the record of 2.4 million TEUs set in May 2022.
Ports have not yet reported September’s numbers, but GPT projects the month at 2.29 million TEUs, up 12.9% year over year. October is forecast at 2.12 million TEUs, up 3.1%,slightly higher than the 2.08 million TEU forecast for October a month ago, and the strike did not appear to affect national totals. November is estimated at 1.91 million TEUs, up 0.9%, and December at 1.88 million TEUs, up 0.2%. That would bring 2024 to 24.9 million TEUs, up 12.1%. January 2025 is projected at 1.98 million TEUs, up 0.8%, and February 2025 is foreseen at 1.74 million TEUs, down 11.2% because of fluctuations in the timing of Lunar New Year shutdowns at Asian factories.
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.
