Despite seasonal rebound, port traffic low

Despite seasonal rebound, port traffic low    Import cargo volume at the nation's major retail container ports climbed back above the 1 million-TEU mark for the first time in four months in May but is continuing to see double-digit declines compared with last year, National Retail Federation and IHS Global Insight said Wednesday.
   NRF's and ISH Global Insight's monthly Port Tracker report showed the ports it surveys handled 1.04 million TEU in May, the most recent month for which actual numbers are available. That was up 5 percent from April and ended a three-month streak of numbers below 1 million TEUs, but was down 20 percent from April 2008.
   'Monthly numbers are rising as we enter the back-to-school season and will continue to do so as we build up to the holiday season, which is the cycle we see every year whether the economy is good or not,' said Jonathan Gold, NRF's vice president for supply chain and customs policy. 'The volumes are still far below what we saw last year and it's going to stay that way until the economy begins to recover.'

Gold	Bingham

   Volume for June was estimated at 1.06 million TEUs, down 18 percent from a year earlier, and July is forecast at 1.1 million TEUs, down 16 percent from last year. August is forecast at 1.14 million TEU, down 17 percent, and September at 1.12 million TEU, down 18 percent. October — traditionally the peak of the annual shipping cycle as holiday merchandise flows into stores — is forecast at 1.15 million TEU, down 17 percent, and November is forecast at 1.06 million TEU, down 14 percent.
   'With the volumes low, the ports are clear of congestion and there's plenty of capacity on the rails and highways,' IHS Global Insight Economist Paul Bingham said. 'We've gotten to the point where the reduced demand for port labor has prompted some dockworkers to leave the workforce, and many port truckers are struggling.'
   The report looks at container imports coming through Los Angeles-Long Beach, Oakland, Seattle and Tacoma on the West Coast; New York-New Jersey, Hampton Roads, Charleston and Savannah on the East Coast; and Houston on the Gulf Coast.