NRF: July TEUs could top 2006 peak for U.S. ports

NRF: July TEUs could top 2006 peak for U.S. ports Traffic at the New York-New Jersey and the nation's major retail container ports is beginning to climb out of the slow season and could top last year's peak as early as July, according to the monthly Port Tracker report released Thursday by the National Retail Federation and consulting firm Global Insight.
   'The slow season is on its way out,' Global Insight economist Paul Bingham said. 'February was the slowest month of the year, as usual, but volume is starting to pick up now in March and we think July could top the peak for all of last year. We saw some weather disruptions in February, but U.S. ports are operating without congestion, and truck and rail performance has been sufficient.'
   Erik Autor, NRF’s vice president and international trade counsel, said: “This is the time of year when retailers really have to begin watching what’s happening at the ports very closely. Summer merchandise will be coming through the ports soon, and we’ll be building toward peak season very rapidly.”
   Besides New York-New Jersey, U.S. ports covered by Port Tracker are Los Angeles-Long Beach, Oakland, Tacoma and Seattle on the West Coast, and New York-New Jersey, Hampton Roads, Charleston and Savannah on the East Coast. All ports are rated 'low' for congestion, the same as last month. Nationwide, the ports surveyed handled 1.26 million TEUs of container traffic in January, the most recent month for which actual numbers are available. The figure was down 0.35 percent from December but up 3.4 percent from January 2006.
   Volume is following its usual pattern of declining over the winter months, although numbers continue to show growth above one year ago. February (historically the slowest month of the year) is forecast at 1.17 million TEUs (up 10.2 percent from February 2006). Volume will begin to move upward again in March, forecast at 1.29 million TEUs (up 3.5 percent from March 2006). April is forecast at 1.37 million TEUs (up 3.5 percent from April 2006), May at 1.39 million TEUs (up 5.6 percent from May 2006), June at 1.42 million TEUs (up 4.8 percent from June 2006), and July at 1.47 million TEUs (up 9.7 percent from July 2006). The July figure would top last year's peak of 1.45 million TEU set in October.