Imports forecast to increase at U.S. ports in 2015

Port Tracker report says imports rose 6 percent in 2014 at a dozen major container ports used by retailers.    Import cargo volumes are expected to be higher this year in most U.S. ports when compared to 2014, according to the monthly Global Port Tracker report published by National Retail Federation and Hackett Associates.
   The report estimates that 17.2 million TEU of imports were handled at the dozen ports it tracks in 2014, 6 percent more than 2013’s 16.2 million. Imports in 2012 totaled 15.8 million.
   Despite congestion and increasingly contentious contract negotiations between the International Longshore and Warehouse Union and employers, the report said import cargo was 1.39 million TEU, in November, up 3.5 percent from November 2013. It estimated December imports at 1.35 million TEU, up 2.7 percent from December 2013.
   Jonathan Gold, the NRF’s vice president for supply chain and customs policy said with the request last week by the ILWU and Pacific Maritime Association to have a federal mediator assist in the contract talks “we hope the mediator will be able to help the parties quickly reach a new contract so we can begin to work on solutions to the ongoing congestion issues. The urgent need to end the uncertainty we’ve seen for half a year now isn’t over just because the holiday season has ended. Retailers are already starting to bring in products for the spring season, and want both labor and management to work together to bring these issues to an end.”
   The contract between the PMA and ILWU expired on July 1 and the two sides have been negotiating since last May on terms for a new contract.
   The Globe Tracker forecast for coming months is: January, 1.39 million TEU, up 1.1 percent from January 2014; February, 1.3 million TEU, up 4.8 percent from February 2014; March, 1.3 million TEU, down 0.5 percent from March 2014; April, 1.43 million TEU, the same as last year; May, 1.49 million TEU, up 0.6 percent from May, 2014.
   “2014 started out with a whimper as winter weather hammered the country but it appears to have ended with a bang,” Hackett Associates Founder Ben Hackett said. “Import volumes on the West Coast, despite all the problems there, were the highest since 2009. A similar picture exists on the East Coast, which had even healthier results.”
   The ports covered by the report are: Los Angeles, Long Beach, Oakland, Seattle and Tacoma, New York/New Jersey, Hampton Roads, Charleston, Savannah, Port Everglades, Miami and Houston.