Port Tracker report calls for brand new month-to-month and annual volumes for U.S-bound retail container imports

United States retail container imports are on tempo to set a brand new document, pushed by ongoing elevated shopper demand stretching provide chains, in addition to retail shippers shifting focus from back-to-school to the vacation Peak Season, based on the newest version of the World Port Tracker report, which was issued immediately by the Nationwide Retail Federation (NRF) and maritime consultancy Hackett Associates.

The ports surveyed within the report embody: Los Angeles/Lengthy Seaside; Oakland; Tacoma; Seattle; Houston; New York/New Jersey; Hampton Roads; Charleston, and Savannah; Miami; Jacksonville; and Fort Lauderdale, Fla.-based Port Everglades.

Authors of the report defined that cargo import numbers don’t correlate instantly with retail gross sales or employment as a result of they rely solely the variety of cargo containers introduced into the nation, not the worth of the merchandise inside them, including that the quantity of merchandise imported gives a tough barometer of outlets’ expectations.

“Again-to-school provides have been hit by the identical provide chain disruptions and port congestion which have affected different merchandise this 12 months, however retailers are working laborious to make sure that college and school items are the place they should be,” NRF Vice President for Provide Chain and Customs Coverage Jonathan Gold mentioned in a press release. “Sturdy shopper demand has outpaced provide chain operations since late final 12 months and will stay a problem as the vacations method. The persevering with lack of labor, tools and capability has highlighted systemic points and the necessity to create a very twenty first century provide chain to make sure resiliency in opposition to the subsequent main disruption. Passage of infrastructure laws at the moment pending in Congress is a key step in that route. We want continued focus by the administration to assist deal with these points as nicely.”

For June, the newest month for which knowledge is out there, import volumes got here in at 2.15 million TEU (Twenty-Foot Equal Models), down 7.8% in comparison with Might’s record-high of two.33 million TEU and up 33.7% in comparison with June 2020, a interval when many shops remained shut down due to the pandemic.

Port Tracker issued the next projections for July and past, together with:  

• July, at 2.22 million TEU, for a 15.7% annual enhance;
• August, at 2.37 million TEU, for a 12.6% annual enhance, and on observe for what could be a brand new month-to-month document, as Peak Season commences, with retailers stocking up for the vacation season (the report noticed that myriad retailers are shifting shipments up in 2021 in an effort to verify enough stock is out there in the course of the vacation season;
• September, at 2.21 million TEU, for a 4.9% annual enhance;
• October, at 2.15 million, for a 3% annual lower, which might signify the primary annual decline going again to July 2020;
• November, at 2.07 million TEU, for a 1.5% annual lower; and
• December, at 2.02 million TEU, for a 4.1% annual lower

Whole quantity, for the primary half of 2021, was up 35.6% yearly, and the overall 2021 quantity is pegged at 25.9 million TEU, for a 17.5% annual enhance. Ought to the 2021 estimate come to fruition, it could stand as a brand new document, coming in forward of the earlier document set in 2020, at 22 million TEU.

Hackett Associates Founder Ben Hackett wrote within the report that whereas many financial indicators—like U.S. GDP at 6.5% within the second quarter; private earnings as much as $26.1 billion in June, and shopper spending rising $155.4 billion—all optimistic, there may be concern relating to above-average inflation, and the potential for extra inflation within the close to future, probably threatening demand.

“The pressure of the persevering with financial growth is placing appreciable stress on the logistics provide chain,” Hackett wrote. “We’re seeing an absence of delivery capability mixed with port congestion as vessels line as much as discharge items from each Asia and Europe. Delays are stretching to landside as port terminals wrestle with house shortages, and labor challenges are affecting ports, railroads and trucking corporations alike. This a part of the restoration just isn’t a fairly sight and blame is being unfold like butter.”