Major container ports across the United States are expected to set a new import record in July, fueled by increasing consumer demand and rising retail sales, according to the monthly Global Port Tracker report released Monday by the National Retail Federation (NRF) and Hackett Associates.
Ports covered by the Global Port Tracker are forecast to collectively increase import volumes in July by 3.8 percent year-over-year to 1.87 million TEUs. This would break their record volumes imported during any single month of 1.83 million TEUs achieved in August 2017.
The projection comes despite the United States on Friday imposing a 25 percent duty on Chinese products with a yearly import value of roughly $34 billion, which resulted in China immediately striking back Friday by implementing an additional 25 percent tariff on $34 billion worth of U.S. exports.
“Retailers cannot easily or quickly change their global supply chains, so imports from China and elsewhere are expected to continue to grow for the foreseeable future,” NRF Vice President for Supply Chain and Customs Policy Jonathan Gold said. “As tariffs begin to hit imported consumer goods or the parts and equipment needed to produce U.S. goods, these hidden taxes will mean higher prices for Americans rather than significant changes to international trade.”
Overall, for the first half of 2018, ports covered by the Global Port Tracker are expected to handle 10.3 million TEUs of imports, up 4.9 percent from the corresponding 2017 period.
Ports covered by the Global Port Tracker are expected to have handled 1.83 million TEUs of imports in June, up 6.8 percent from 12 months prior, while in May, the latest month for which after-the-fact numbers are available, the ports handled 1.82 million TEUs of imports, up 4.3 percent from 12 months earlier.
Looking ahead, the report forecasts the following import figures for each month for ports covered across the Global Port Tracker, compared to the same month in 2017:
• August at 1.91 million TEUs, up 4.2 percent;
• September at 1.82 million TEUs, up 2.1 percent;
• October at 1.89 million TEUs, up 5.3 percent;
• And November at 1.81 million TEUs up 2.6 percent.
The Global Port Tracker, which is produced by Hackett Associates for the NRF, covers the U.S. ports of Los Angeles, Long Beach, Oakland, Seattle, Tacoma, New York/New Jersey, Port of Virginia, Charleston, Savannah, Port Everglades, Miami and Houston.