WASHINGTON, 2016-Jul-14 — /EPR Retail News/ — Import cargo volume at the nation’s major retail container ports should see a small-but-significant increase this month as merchants stock up for the back-to-school season, then see a larger wave in late summer and fall for the holiday shopping season, according to the monthly Global Port Tracker report released today by the National Retail Federation and Hackett Associates.
“Back-to-school and the holidays are the two biggest shopping seasons of the year for retailers and these numbers reflect that,” NRF Vice President for Supply Chain and Customs Policy Jonathan Gold said. “After a year of difficult comparisons in the wake of the West Coast ports slowdown, we’re finally starting to see normal trends. Some numbers are still down from last year, but the pattern of building up toward the big seasons has returned.”
Ports covered by Global Port Tracker handled 1.63 million Twenty-Foot Equivalent Units in May, the latest month for which after-the-fact numbers are available. That was up 12.8 percent from April and 1.1 percent from May 2015. One TEU is one 20-foot-long cargo container or its equivalent.
June was estimated at 1.56 million TEU, down 0.5 percent from the same month last year. July is forecast at 1.64 million TEU, up 1.4 percent from last year; August at 1.65 million TEU, down 2 percent; September at 1.58 million TEU, down 2.6 percent; October at 1.62 million TEU, up 4.4 percent, and November at 1.52 million TEU, up 2.8 percent. Even though volume will be lower than the same month last year, August is expected to be the peak shipping month of the year.
The first half of 2016 is expected to total 8.99 million TEU, up 1.5 percent from the same period in 2015. Total volume for 2015 was 18.2 million TEU, up 5.4 percent from 2014.
“Trade is holding on to a small margin of growth, but this growth comes in the face of some adverse statistics as well as positive ones,” Hackett Associates Founder Ben Hackett said. “The good news is that retail sales have remained positive as the consumer continues to cautiously spend. The hope is that this spending will continue.”
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. The report is free to NRF retail members, and subscription information is available at www.nrf.com/PortTracker or by calling (202) 783-7971. Subscription information for non-members can be found at www.globalporttracker.com.
NRF is the world’s largest retail trade association, representing discount and department stores, home goods and specialty stores, Main Street merchants, grocers, wholesalers, chain restaurants and Internet retailers from the United States and more than 45 countries. Retail is the nation’s largest private sector employer, supporting one in four U.S. jobs – 42 million working Americans. Contributing $2.6 trillion to annual GDP, retail is a daily barometer for the nation’s economy. NRF’s This is Retail campaign highlights the industry’s opportunities for life-long careers, how retailers strengthen communities, and the critical role that retail plays in driving innovation. NRF.com
Hackett Associates provides expert consulting, research and advisory services to the international maritime industry, government agencies and international institutions.www.hackettassociates.com
Contact:
J. Craig Shearman
(202) 626-8134
press@nrf.com
(855) NRF-Press
Source: NRF