Import cargo at the nation’s major retail container ports fell 15 percent in March, compared to year-earlier numbers.
U.S. ports surveyed handled 984,633 twenty-foot equivalent units in March, the lowest level in five years, according to the monthly Port Tracker report released today by the National Retail Federation and IHS Global Insight.
After February’s seven-year low, it looked like an improvement. But the number of containers was down on a year-over-year basis despite a 16.8 percent month-to-month increase, which was largely due to seasonal factors. February is traditionally the slowest month of the year. The March numbers do not indicate a bustling peak season.
“Cargo that came across the docks in March is in the stores now, so these numbers show us that retailers expect slow sales this spring and summer, and have been cautious in the amount of merchandise that they’ve ordered,” said Jonathan Gold, NRF vice president for supply chain and customs policy. “Month-to-month numbers are rising, but we’re still expecting significantly lower quantities of merchandise being imported than we saw last year.”
The March 2009 volume is the next-lowest since the 901,497 TEUs seen in February 2004, and marks the 21st consecutive month to see a year-over-year decline.
Port Tracker estimated volume for April at 1.04 million TEUs, down 18 percent from a year earlier. The forecast for the first half of 2009 is 6.1 million TEUs, down 19 percent from the 7.5 million TEUs seen in the first half of 2008. Total volume for 2008 was 15.2 million TEUs, down 7.9 percent from 2007’s 16.5 million TEUs and the lowest level since 2004’s 14 million TEUs.
“The monthly numbers are on their way back u,p but that’s really just the shipping cycle we see every year whether we’re in a recession or not,” IHS Global Insight Economist Paul Bingham said. “The real rebound is still in the future. Import container traffic is projected to continue to be weak for the next several months due to the underlying reduction in demand for goods.”
U.S. ports surveyed handled 984,633 twenty-foot equivalent units in March, the lowest level in five years, according to the monthly Port Tracker report released today by the National Retail Federation and IHS Global Insight.
After February’s seven-year low, it looked like an improvement. But the number of containers was down on a year-over-year basis despite a 16.8 percent month-to-month increase, which was largely due to seasonal factors. February is traditionally the slowest month of the year. The March numbers do not indicate a bustling peak season.
“Cargo that came across the docks in March is in the stores now, so these numbers show us that retailers expect slow sales this spring and summer, and have been cautious in the amount of merchandise that they’ve ordered,” said Jonathan Gold, NRF vice president for supply chain and customs policy. “Month-to-month numbers are rising, but we’re still expecting significantly lower quantities of merchandise being imported than we saw last year.”
The March 2009 volume is the next-lowest since the 901,497 TEUs seen in February 2004, and marks the 21st consecutive month to see a year-over-year decline.
Port Tracker estimated volume for April at 1.04 million TEUs, down 18 percent from a year earlier. The forecast for the first half of 2009 is 6.1 million TEUs, down 19 percent from the 7.5 million TEUs seen in the first half of 2008. Total volume for 2008 was 15.2 million TEUs, down 7.9 percent from 2007’s 16.5 million TEUs and the lowest level since 2004’s 14 million TEUs.
“The monthly numbers are on their way back u,p but that’s really just the shipping cycle we see every year whether we’re in a recession or not,” IHS Global Insight Economist Paul Bingham said. “The real rebound is still in the future. Import container traffic is projected to continue to be weak for the next several months due to the underlying reduction in demand for goods.”