IMPORT/EXPORT
Container Traffic to Rise 12.4 Percent This Month
As spring-like weather entices consumers out of their shells to shop, the number of cargo containers being shipped across the ocean to the nation’s ports is expected to increase by as much as 12.4 percent in March.
The nice uptick in port traffic comes after import activity declined steeply in February due to Chinese New Year celebrations in Asia, according to the “Global Port Tracker” report, prepared every month by Hackett Associates for the National Retail Federation.
“Retailers are bouncing back from the annual post-holiday slowdown and getting ready for the surge in activity that comes each year as the weather warms up,” said Jonathan Gold, the NRF’s vice president for supply chain and customs policy. “Shelves are going to be well-stocked with everything from bathing suits to barbecues.”
However, congestion at the ports has become a problem due to labor shortages and a new system of distributing chassis for cargo containers as most shipping lines have gotten out of the chassis business. “Operations will need to improve to handle the expected surge in the coming months,” Gold said.
U.S. ports handled 1.36 million 20-foot containers in January, the latest month for which concrete numbers are available. That was up 4.1 percent from January 2013.
Cargo-container activity in February, traditionally the slowest month of the year, was estimated at 1.17 million containers, down 8.8 percent from the same month last year. March is forecast to be at 1.28 million containers, up 12.4 percent from last year.
April traffic will be at an estimated 1.36 million containers, a slight 5.1 percent jump from last year. May will register 1.44 million containers, up 3.7 percent, and June will be at 1.43 million containers, a 5.3 percent increase over last year.
June should weigh in with 1.43 million containers, or 5.3 percent more than last year, and July should register 1.49 million containers, up 3.4 percent from last year.
The total number of cargo containers brought into the nation’s leading ports last year totaled 16.2 million containers, up 2.3 percent over 2012.
The NRF is expecting retail sales to grow 4.1 percent this year, but that is contingent on how Washington economic and fiscal policies affect consumer confidence.
