17% box growth for 2010, Port Tracker says

17% box growth for 2010, Port Tracker says    Import cargo volume at the nation's major retail container ports is expected to increase 9 percent in December over the same month last year, and 2010 should end with a 17 percent increase over 2009, according to the monthly Global Port Tracker report released Tuesday by the National Retail Federation and Hackett Associates.
   'The nation's improving economy has been reflected in the amount of merchandise imported by retailers this year,' said Jonathan Gold, NRF vice president for supply chain and customs policy. 'We haven't fully recovered from the recession, and we still need more job creation to get consumer confidence back where it should be. But import levels have seen solid increases throughout the year and we expect that to continue in 2011. Cargo volume doesn't translate directly to sales, but these trends are certainly in line with what we've experienced with monthly retail sales and this year's holiday season.'

Gold

   U.S. ports handled 1.34 million TEUs in October, the latest month for which actual numbers are available. That was unchanged from September, but up 13 percent from October 2009. It was the 11th month in a row to show a year-over-year improvement after December 2009 broke a 28-month streak of year-over-year declines.
   Forecasts through April 2011 are:
   ' November was estimated at 1.25 million TEUs, a 15 percent increase over last year.
   ' December is forecast at 1.18 million TEUs.
   ' January 2011, 1.16 million TEUs, up 8 percent from January 2010.
   ' February, traditionally the slowest month of the year, is forecast at 1.1 million TEUs, up 10 percent from last year.
   ' March, 1.14 million TEUs, up 6 percent.
   ' April, 1.18 million TEUs, up 4 percent.
   The first half of 2010 totaled 6.9 million TEUs, up 17 percent from the same period last year. The full year is forecast at 14.6 million TEUs, which would also be an increase of 17 percent from the 12.7 million TEUs seen in 2009, which was the lowest since the 12.5 million TEUs reported in 2003. The 2010 number remains below the 15.2 million TEUs seen in 2008 and the peak of 16.5 million TEUs seen in 2007.

Hackett

   As volume increases in 2011, Hackett Associates founder Ben Hackett said retailers could see higher costs from slow steaming.
   'Shippers have not benefited from slow steaming,' Hackett said. 'The increased round-trip voyage time has a direct impact on the time cost of goods. As a result, costs have gone up along the whole supply chain with increased inventory and transportation costs.'
   Global Port Tracker looks at inbound container volume at the nine largest U.S. ports.