US container imports expected to rise 5.9pc in November: Port Tracker

IMPORT volume through major US container ports is expected to increase 5.9 per cent in November despite the ravishes of Hurricane Sandy, according to the monthly Global Port Tracker report from the National Retail Federation (NRF) and Hackett Associates.

"While there was clearly a regional impact, at this point the storm is not expected to have a major effect on holiday sales numbers," said NRF vice president Jonathan Gold.

US ports followed by Global Port Tracker handled 1.42 million TEU in September, the latest month for which real numbers are available. That was the same as August but 3.3 per cent up on September 2011.

October was estimated at 1.46 million TEU, up 10.7 per cent year on year with November forecast at 1.37 million TEU, up 5.9 per cent and December forecast at 1.34 million TEU, up 9.4 per cent. January is forecast at 1.39 million TEU, up 8.2 per cent from January 2012; February at 1.22 million TEU, up 12 per cent and March is expected to produce a throughput of 1.26 million TEU, up 1.6 per cent.

August, September and October were the three busiest months of the year as retailers bring merchandise into the country for the holiday season, and volume for the three months combined was up 5.8 per cent at 4.3 million TEU. While cargo volume does not correlate directly with sales, NRF is forecasting that holiday sales will increase 4.1 per cent to US$586.1 billion this year.

The first half of 2012 totalled 7.7 million TEU, up 2.9 per cent from the same period last year. For the full year, 2012 is expected to total 16.1 million TEU, up 4.5 per cent from 2011.