National Retail Federation Reports U.S. Ports Remain at Near-Record Volumes; Jonathan Gold and Ben Hackett Discuss
WASHINGTON, DC - News continues to swirl surrounding West Coast ports, and the National Retail Federation (NRF) recently provided a new update. Its Global Port Tracker report, released in partnership with Hackett Associates, revealed that major retail container ports should see near-record volume again this month.
“We’re in for a busy summer at the ports,” NRF Vice President for Supply Chain and Customs Policy Jonathan Gold said. “Back-to-school supplies are already arriving, and holiday merchandise will be right behind them. And the big wild card is what will happen with West Coast labor negotiations, with the current contract set to expire on July 1. We continue to encourage the parties to remain at the table until a deal is done, but some of the surge we’ve seen may be a safeguard against any problems that might arise.”
As we reported previously, the Chinese government has begun to relax its zero-COVID policy, which should open up channels for increased imports in the coming weeks.
Hackett Associates Founder Ben Hackett commented on the recent development.
“The anticipation is that the Chinese manufacturing and transportation sectors will quickly get back to normal,” Hackett Associates Founder Ben Hackett said. “China’s recovery will need the government’s support in order to get the supply chain functioning normally again to provide the input required by the manufacturing sector.”
According to a press release, United States ports covered by Global Port Tracker handled 2.26 million Twenty-Foot Equivalent Units (TEU) in April—down 3.6 percent from March’s 2.34 million TEU, but up 5.1 percent year over year. Ports have not yet reported May numbers, but Global Port Tracker projected the month at 2.31 million TEU. June is also forecast at 2.31 million TEU, which would leave May and June tied for the third-highest volume.
July is forecast at 2.3 million TEU, August at 2.28 million TEU, September at 2.13 million TEU, and October also at 2.13 million TEU, the press release noted. The first six months of 2022 are expected to total 13.5 million TEU, up 5.3 percent year over year. Imports for all of 2021 totaled 25.8 million TEU, a 17.4 percent increase over 2020’s previous annual record of 22 million TEU.
As the situation progresses, stick with ANUK for the latest updates.
