NRF: Retailers increase imports with eye toward holidays

Washington, D.C. —Import cargo volume at the nation’s major retail container ports is expected to increase 3.6% in August 2015 from the same month in 2014 as retailers begin to bring in merchandise for the holiday season. According to the monthly Global Port Tracker report released by the National Retail Federation (NRF) and Hackett Associates, imports for the year are expected to be up 4.2% from 2014.



“Consumers might beoutbuying back-to-schoolsuppliesbut toys and sweaters are starting to show up on the docks,” NRF VP for supply chain and customs policy Jonathan Gold said. “There are still some lingering congestion issues, but retailers are working with their supply chain partners to make sure all of that merchandise flows smoothly to store shelves.”



Portscovered by Global Port Tracker handled 1.57 million Twenty-Foot Equivalent Units (TEU) in June, the latest month for which after-the-fact numbers are available. That was down 2.5% from an unusually busy May but up 6.2% from June 2014. One TEU is one 20-foot-long cargo container or its equivalent.



July was estimated at 1.59 million TEU, up 6 percent from 2014. August is forecast at 1.57 million TEU, up 3.6%; September at 1.59 million TEU, down 0.1%; October at 1.58 million TEU, up 1.2%; November at 1.45 million TEU, up 4.5%, and December at 1.4 million TEU, down 2.8%.



Those numbers would bring 2015 to a total of 18 million TEU, up 4.2% from the previous year. The first half of 2015 totaled 8.9 million TEU, up 6.5% from the same period the prior year.



Some retailers are paying less to transport their merchandise this year, thanks to the use of more large-capacity ships by ocean carriers. Hackett Associates Founder Ben Hackett said the increased capacity has driven down rates, but the relief could be short-lived because some lines have already canceled voyages to counteract the trend.



Global Port Tracker, which is produced for NRF by the consulting firm Hackett Associates, covers the U.S. ports of Los Angeles/Long Beach, Oakland, Seattle and Tacoma on the West Coast; New York/New Jersey, Hampton Roads, Charleston, Savannah, Port Everglades and Miami on the East Coast, and Houston on the Gulf Coast.