US retailers look to 1.1pc growth in box imports in June: Port Tracker
IMPORT volumes through major US retail container ports are expected to increase 1.1 per cent in June year on year as retailers look to back-to-school and Christmas sales, according to the monthly Global Port Tracker released by the National Retail Federation (NRF) and Hackett Associates.
"With the economic recovery moving slowly, retailers are being cautious this summer and could hold off on stocking up for the holiday season until fall," said NRF vice president Jonathan Gold.
"We aren't expecting significant increases for imports until October, when retailers will have a better idea of what to expect for holiday demand," he said.
Such imports do not match retail sales, but the amount of merchandise imported provides a rough barometer of retailers' expectations, said the report.
US ports followed by Global Port Tracker handled 1.31 million TEU in April, the latest month for which there are actual results. That was up 14.6 per cent from a slow March, but down 0.1 per cent from April 2012.
May was estimated at 1.4 million TEU, up 2.2 per cent from a year ago. June is forecast at 1.4 million TEU, up 1.1 per cent from last year; July at 1.44 million TEU, up 1.9 per cent; August at 1.43 million TEU, up 0.5 per cent; September at 1.42 million TEU, up 0.8 per cent; and October at 1.45 million TEU, up 7.9 per cent.
The first six months of 2013 are expected to total 7.8 million TEU, up 1.9 per cent from the first half of 2012. The total for 2012 was 15.8 million TEU, up 2.9 per cent from 2011.
"We are witnessing a period of import trade growth that is running more or less in sync with the US economic expansion. Unfortunately, both are anemic," Hackett Associates Founder Ben Hackett said. "The impact of this extremely cautious consumer spending is that we expect import consumption to remain weak for the coming four to six months."
Global Port Tracker covers the ports of Los Angeles/Long Beach, Oakland, Seattle, Tacoma, New York/New Jersey, Hampton Roads, Charleston, Savannah, Port Everglades and Miami and Houston.
IMPORT volumes through major US retail container ports are expected to increase 1.1 per cent in June year on year as retailers look to back-to-school and Christmas sales, according to the monthly Global Port Tracker released by the National Retail Federation (NRF) and Hackett Associates.
"With the economic recovery moving slowly, retailers are being cautious this summer and could hold off on stocking up for the holiday season until fall," said NRF vice president Jonathan Gold.
"We aren't expecting significant increases for imports until October, when retailers will have a better idea of what to expect for holiday demand," he said.
Such imports do not match retail sales, but the amount of merchandise imported provides a rough barometer of retailers' expectations, said the report.
US ports followed by Global Port Tracker handled 1.31 million TEU in April, the latest month for which there are actual results. That was up 14.6 per cent from a slow March, but down 0.1 per cent from April 2012.
May was estimated at 1.4 million TEU, up 2.2 per cent from a year ago. June is forecast at 1.4 million TEU, up 1.1 per cent from last year; July at 1.44 million TEU, up 1.9 per cent; August at 1.43 million TEU, up 0.5 per cent; September at 1.42 million TEU, up 0.8 per cent; and October at 1.45 million TEU, up 7.9 per cent.
The first six months of 2013 are expected to total 7.8 million TEU, up 1.9 per cent from the first half of 2012. The total for 2012 was 15.8 million TEU, up 2.9 per cent from 2011.
"We are witnessing a period of import trade growth that is running more or less in sync with the US economic expansion. Unfortunately, both are anemic," Hackett Associates Founder Ben Hackett said. "The impact of this extremely cautious consumer spending is that we expect import consumption to remain weak for the coming four to six months."
Global Port Tracker covers the ports of Los Angeles/Long Beach, Oakland, Seattle, Tacoma, New York/New Jersey, Hampton Roads, Charleston, Savannah, Port Everglades and Miami and Houston.