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July Container Traffic Should Rise 1.6%
July 11,
2012 by in UnCategorized 
By Home Furnishings Business in sourcing/importing on July 12, 2012
Import volume at U.S. container ports should rise 1.6 percent in July compared with July 2011, according to the Global Port Tracker from National Retail Federation and Hackett Associates.
Whether consumers are going to have the confidence to spend during the next few months depends on what happens with employment, but retailers are being cautiously optimistic, NRF Vice President for Supply Chain and Customs Policy Jonathan Gold said. Sales can fluctuate from month to month, but these import numbers show that retailers are still expecting this year to be better than last year.
U.S. ports followed by Global Port Tracker handled 1.34 million 20-foot equivalent units in May, the latest month for which after-the-fact numbers are available. That was up 4.1 percent from April and 2.3 percent from May 2011.
June remained at an estimated 1.34 million TEU, the same as May but up 4.7 percent from June 2011. July is forecast at 1.38 million TEU, up 1.6 percent from last year; August at 1.44 million TEU, up 6.2 percent; September at 1.45 million TEU, up 6.8 percent; October at 1.47 million TEU, up 12.6 percent over lower-than-usual numbers last year; and November at 1.3 million TEU, up 2 percent.
The first half of 2012 totaled an estimated 7.5 million TEU, up 2.6 percent from the same period last year. The total for 2011 was 15.1 million TEU, up 0.6 percent from 2010. NRF projects 2012 retail sales will grow 3.4 percent to $2.53 trillion.
Numbers in this months report reflect the addition of Miami to the list of ports covered.
Economists and commentators are talking the economy down, Hackett Associates Founder Ben Hackett said. Despite the mixed signals, we remain optimistic that consumers will remain in the market.
Global Port Tracker, which is produced for NRF by the consulting firm Hackett Associates, covers the U.S. ports of Long Angeles/Long Beach, Oakland, Seattle and Tacoma on the West Coast; New York/New Jersey, Hampton Roads, Charleston, Savannah and Miami on the East Coast, and Houston on the Gulf Coast.