Retail container traffic to be up 25% in Q1

Washington, D.C. Import cargo volume at the nation’s major retail container ports will be a full 25% higher during the first half of 2010,compared with the same period a year ago, according to the monthly Global Port Tracker report released on Monday by the National Retail Federation and Hackett Associates.

“This is a dramatic turnaround over what we’ve seen during the past two years,” NRF VP for supply chain and customs policy Jonathan Gold said. “Increases in import volumes don’t correspond directly with dollar volumes in sales, so caution has to be exercised when looking at these numbers. But retailers are clearly expecting to move more merchandise this year.”

U.S. ports handled 1.09 million 20-ft. equivalent units (TEUs) in December, the latest month for which actual numbers are available. That number was unchanged from November, but up 2.6% from December 2008 to break a 28-month streak during which monthly totals were lower than the same month the year before. One TEU is one 20-ft. cargo container or its equivalent.

January was estimated at 1.19 million TEU, a 17% increase over the same period last year, and February, traditionally the slowest month of the year, is forecast at 1.1 million TEU, up 30% from the previous year. March is forecast at 1.18 million TEU, up 23% as retailers begin to stock up for spring and summer, April at 1.25 million TEU, up 27%, May at 1.3 million TEU, up 26%, and June at 1.38 million TEU, up 36%.

Those monthly numbers would put the first half of 2010 at 7.4 million TEU, up 25% from last year’s 5.9 million TEU.