Retail Container Traffic to Fall in First Half of 2009

Washington, D.C. After ending 2008 down 7.9%, cargo volume at the nation’s major retail container ports is expected to drop at an even faster pace during the first half of 2009 as the economic recession continues, according to the monthly Port Tracker report released on Friday by the National Retail Federation and IHS Global Insight.

Final data for 2008 showed volume for the year at 15.2 million 20-ft.-equivalent units, compared with 16.5 million TEU in 2007, a decline of 7.9% and the lowest total since 2004, when 14 million TEU moved through the ports. One TEU is one 20-ft. container or its equivalent.

Volume for the first six months of 2009 is forecast at 6.6 million TEU, down 11.8% from the 7.5 million TEU seen during the same period in 2008. Port Tracker forecasts only six months into the future, so an estimate of volume for the entire year won’t be available until this summer.