Report: September volume to grow 16%

Import cargo volume at the nation's major retail container ports is expected to rise 16 percent in September over the same month last year, but 2010 has already hit its peak and numbers will decline through the rest of the year, according to the monthly Global Port Tracker report released Tuesday by the National Retail Federation and Hackett Associates.
'Retailers have stocked up early on much of their holiday merchandise in order to avoid some of the supply chain disruptions seen earlier in the year,' said Jonathan Gold, NRF vice president for supply chain and customs policy. 'Cargo is still coming in, but the key question for sales will be what happens with employment and other factors that affect consumer confidence this fall. Retailers are hoping they've hit the right balance of supply and demand.'

Gold

   The first half of 2010 was estimated at 6.9 million TEUs, up 17 percent from the same period last year. The full year is forecast at 14.5 million TEUs, which would be up 15 percent from the 12.7 million TEUs 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 in 2007.
   U.S. ports handled 1.38 million TEUs in July, up 5 percent from June and 25 percent from July 2009. It was the eighth month in a row to show a year-over-year improvement after December broke a 28-month streak of year-over-year declines.
   Monthly forecasts through January 2011 are:
   ' August, 1.35 million TEUs, a 17 percent increase over last year.
   ' September, 1.32 million TEUs, up 16 percent.
   ' October, 1.3 million TEUs, up 9 percent.
   ' November, 1.2 million TEUs, up 11 percent.
   ' December, 1.11 million TEUs, up 2 percent.
   January 2011, 1.06 million TEU, down 2 percent.
   'While October is the traditional peak month of the annual shipping season as retailers bring in merchandise for the holiday season, July's figures appear likely to stand as the peak for 2010,' Global Port Tracker said. 'The shift was mostly due to backlogs built up due to the lack of shipping capacity earlier in the year after ship owners took vessels out of service during the recession.'

Hackett

'There is sufficient evidence to suggest that importers anticipated the peak season and bought early, partly as a result of a fear of lack of capacity and containers, but also as a means to avoid the hefty peak season surcharges announced by all the carriers,' Hackett Associates founder Ben Hackett said. 'We remain cautious about growth over the next 12 months. The good news is that the influx of new capacity will continue to put downward pressure on freight rates.'

FreightWaves Staff