US PORTS' cargo throughput in 2011 is estimated at 14.86 million TEU, up 0.7 per cent from 2010's 14.75 million TEU, according to the estimates from Global Port Tracker, commissioned by the National Retail Federation (NRF) and produced by Hackett Associates. In November, the latest month for which after-the-fact figures are available, the US ports handled a total of 1.25 million TEU, down 2.1 per cent from October, but December was projected at 1.21 million TEU, up 5.9 per cent year on year.
Said NRF vice president Jonathan Gold: "We're headed into the slow season for cargo shipments, but forecasts indicate that retailers will be stocking up this spring in anticipation of a moderate recovery as the year progresses."
For the forecast of 2012, throughput of January is estimated at 1.21 million TEU, up one-tenth of 1 per cent from January 2011. February is projected at 1.06 million TEU, down 3.3 per cent year on year; March at 1.2 million TEU, up 10.5 per cent year on year; April at 1.26 million TEU, up 3.8 per cent and May at 1.3 million TEU, up 0.9 per cent.
Said Global Port Tracker: "All of these indicators suggest that we [the US] are not heading for another recession, but rather for a sustained level of low growth. In Europe we expect a weaker first half as austerity measures bit, but a recovery in the second half of the year."