Nationwide Retail Container Traffic to Fall This Year
A slowing economy and gloomy store sales mean that retail container traffic at the nation’s ports will dip 4 percent this year compared with last year, according to the National Retail Federation.
Cargo volume every month this year has been below last year’s figures.
“This has been a very challenging year, and cargo volume reflects consumer demand as retailers work to keep inventory as tight as possible in order to keep supply and demand in balance,” said Jonathan Gold, NRF vice president for supply chain and customs policy. “If merchants can avoid having excess merchandise on hand, it means they can avoid the need for unplanned markdowns to clear their shelves, especially after the Holiday season.”
The NRF expects 15.8 million 20-foot containers to pass through the nation’s major ports this year, compared with 16.4 million containers last year.
U.S. ports handled 1.3 million containers in June, down 10.3 percent from the same month last year. July’s traffic, estimated at 1.37 million containers, is down about 5.2 percent from a year ago. August’s traffic is expected to decline 2.7 percent, and September’s cargo volume is forecasted to dip about 5 percent.
At the Port of Los Angeles, container volume during the first half of the year slipped nearly 7 percent to 3.7 million containers.
Next door at the Port of Long Beach, container traffic during the first half of the year was down 8.7 percent to 3.2 million containers. —Deborah Belgum
