NRF: Continued retail sales growth fuels imports at U.S. container ports

Major retail container ports across the nation are expected to collectively experience the busiest month on record for imports in August, according to the latest monthly Global Port Tracker report by the National Retail Federation and Hackett Associates.    The United States’ major retail container ports are expected to collectively experience the busiest month on record for imports in August, according to the latest monthly Global Port Tracker report by the National Retail Federation (NRF) and Hackett Associates.
   Ports covered by the Global Port Tracker handled 1.69 million TEUs in June, the latest month for which after-the-fact numbers are available, down 2 percent month-over-month but up 7.5 percent year-over-year.
   July figures are already beginning to emerge at ports across the nation, and appear to be holding strong, with the Port of Oakland posting record import container volumes for any single month in the port’s history. The Port of Virginia also recorded a year-over-year boost in import container volumes in July.
   Looking ahead, the Global Port Tracker Report forecasts the following for each month across ports covered by the Global Port Tracker, compared to the same month in 2016:
     • July at 1.72 million TEUs, up 5.6 percent;
     • August at 1.75 million TEUs, up 2.1 percent;
     • September at 1.67 million TEUs, up 4.7 percent;
     • October at 1.72 million TEUs, up 3 percent;
     • November at 1.62 million TEUs, down 1.4 percent;
     • And December at 1.59 million TEUs, up 1.5 percent.
   Those numbers would bring 2017 to a total of 19.7 million TEUs, surpassing last year’s previous record of 18.8 million TEUs.
   “The 1.7 million-plus numbers seen in May and July and now expected for August and October would represent four of the six busiest months in the report’s history,” said the NRF.
   “Retailers are selling more and that means they need to import more,” added NRF Vice President for Supply Chain and Customs Policy Jonathan Gold. “These latest numbers are a good sign of what retailers expect in terms of consumer demand over the next few months.”
   Global Port Tracker, which is produced by Hackett Associates for the NRF, covers the U.S. ports of Los Angeles, Long Beach, Oakland, Seattle, Tacoma, New York/New Jersey, Hampton Roads, Charleston, Savannah, Port Everglades, Miami and Houston.