US MAJOR container ports import volume has returned to normal following ratification of a new west coast five-year labour contract, according to Global Port Tracker from the National Retail Federation and Hackett Associates.
"The east coast is not managing to hold on to the growth levels it has experienced over the past few months," said Hackett Associates Founder Ben Hackett, whose firm crunches the numbers.
"June is going to be a mixed month for the west coast with volatility between the ports, but July and August are projected to see growth across the board. On the east coast, we are projecting growth for most ports," he said.
Said NRF vice president Jonathan Gold: "There is still congestion, but we're hoping to see reasonably normal back-to-school and holiday seasons this year now that tensions are behind us."
Ports covered by Global Port Tracker handled 1.52 million TEU in April, the latest month for which after-the-fact numbers are available.
That was down 12.4 per cent from March, when numbers were driven up by a surge of backlogged cargo when the labour dispute ended, but up 6.1 per cent from April 2014.
May was estimated at 1.56 million TEU, up five per cent from 2014. June is forecast at 1.52 million TEU, up 2.6 per cent; July at 1.57 million TEU, up 4.9 per cent; August also at 1.57 million TEU, up 3.3 per cent; September at 1.6 million TEU, up 0.6 per cent, and October at 1.59 million TEU, up 1.8 per cent.
The first half of 2015 is forecast at 8.8 million TEU, an increase of 5.4 per cent over the same period last year.
Hackett Associates Founder Ben Hackett said a "stubbornly high" inventory-to-sales ratio after last year's rush to bring in adequate stocks of merchandise will couple with other economic factors to affect cargo volumes through the summer.
Port Tracker covers Los Angeles/Long Beach, Oakland, Seattle and Tacoma, New York/New Jersey, Hampton Roads, Charleston, Savannah, Port Everglades and Miami and Houston.
PORTS
10 June 2015 - 20:23
US west coast volumes near normal, but east coast fails to hold gains
US MAJOR container ports import volume has returned to normal following ratification of a new west coast five-year labour contract, according to Global Port Tracker from the National Retail Federation and Hackett Associates.
PORTS
10 June 2015 - 20:23
US west coast volumes near normal, but east coast fails to hold gains
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