News
Import volumes at U.S. major container ports could be higher than previously expected for the remainder of this year as retailers face another potential East Coast and Gulf Coast port strike and tariff increases planned by President-elect Donald Trump, according to a recent Global Port Tracker (GPT) report released by the National Retail Federation (NRF) and Hackett Associates.
An NRF study has found that tariff increases proposed by Trump could drive up consumer prices by as much as $78 billion a year.
The U.S. ports covered by GPT handled 2.29 million TEUs of containers in September, although the ports of New York and New Jersey as well as Miami have yet to report final data. It was down 1.3% from August but up 12.8% year over year.
Ports have not yet reported October’s numbers, but GPT projects the month at 2.13 million TEUs, up 3.7%r. November is forecast at 2.15 million TEUs, up 13.6% and December at 1.99 million TEUs, up 6.1%. That would bring 2024 to 25.3 million TEUs, up 13.6% from 2023.
The numbers have not yet been revised to reflect this week’s election results but do take the potential port strike into consideration. October was previously forecast at 2.12 million TEUs, November at 1.91 million TEUs and December at 1.88 million TEUs, and the total for 2024 was previously forecast at 24.9 million TEUs.
January 2025 is forecast at 2.01 million TEUs, up 2.5%; February at 1.77 million TEUs, down 9.3% because of fluctuations in the timing of Lunar New Year shutdowns at Asian factories; and March at 2.01 million TEUs, up 4.4%.
