December Container Traffic to Inch up

December 13, 2011  by in UnCategorized   

By Home Furnishings Business in Delivery on December 14, 2011

Import volume at major U.S. container ports rise 0.3 percent in December compared with the same month last year, according to the latest Global Port Tracker report.

Port Tracker is released monthly by the National Retail Federation and Hackett Associates.

"The uptick we're expecting for December isn't large at all but it comes after several months where retailers had reduced their imports from last year, so it's a positive sign by comparison," said NRF Vice President for Supply Chain and Customs Policy Jonathan Gold. "Retailers are placing a cautious bet that consumer demand is increasing."

U.S. ports followed by Global Port Tracker handled 1.28 million 20-foot equivalent units (TEU) in October, the latest month for which after-the-fact numbers are available. That was down 3.5 percent from the peak for the year hit in September, and down 5 percent from October 2010.

November was estimated at 1.18 million TEU, down 4.4 percent from a year ago, while December is forecast at 1.15 million TEU, up 0.3 percent from last year. After the holidays, January 2012 is forecast at 1.15 million TEU, down 4.8 percent from January 2011. February, traditionally the slowest month of the year, is forecast at 1.04 million TEU, down 5.7 percent; March is expected to see 1.17 million TEU, an increase of 7 percent; and April is forecast at 1.22 million TEU, the same as last year.

The total for 2011 is forecast at 14.73 million TEU, down one-tenth of 1 percent from last year's 14.75 million TEU.

Global Port Tracker counts only the number of cargo containers imported, not the value of their contents, so cargo volume does not directly correlate with retail sales. NRF is forecasting 2.8 percent growth in holiday sales during November and December over last year, for a total of $465.6 billion.

"We expect to see a mini-resurgence in December," said Hackett Associates Founder Ben Hackett. "With consumer spending on the rise, it would seem that the pace of retail sales will continue through to the New Year's sales at least."