At the nation's largest retail container ports, imports are continuing to show double-digit growth over last, according to the monthly Global Port Tracker report released today by the National Retail Federation and Hackett Associates. This is due to the strong consumer demand which continues to keeps up its momentum.
“The year-over-year growth we saw this spring was off the charts because the comparisons were against a time when most stores were shut down due to the pandemic,” NRF vice president for Supply Chain and Customs Policy Jonathan Gold said. “But we’re continuing to see strong growth even as we enter a point when stores had begun to reopen last year. That’s a sign of the tremendous demand from consumers. The challenge for retailers and supply chains is keeping shelves stocked as port congestion and other supply chain disruptions continue to impact the industry and the economy more broadly.”
U.S. ports covered by Global Port Tracker handled 2.33 million Twenty-Foot Equivalent Units in May, the latest month for which final numbers are available. That was up 8.6% from April and up 52.2% from a year earlier. The number set a new record for the most containers imported during a single month since NRF began tracking imports in 2002, topping the previous record of 2.27 million TEU set this March.
Ports have not reported June numbers yet, but Global Port Tracker projected the month at 2.15 million TEU, which would be up 33.8% from the same time last year. That would bring the first half of 2021 to 12.8 million TEU, up 35.6% from the same period last year.
July is forecast at 2.21 million TEU, up 15.1% year-over-year
Other forecasts include:
- - August at 2.3 million, up 9.4%
- -September at 2.16 million, up 2.5%;
- -October at 2.13 million, down 3.7% for the first year-over-year decline since July 2020;
- November at 2.06 million, down 2%
