Port of Oakland
_x000D_
By MarEx 2019-01-10 17:58:56
_x000D_
_x000D_
Imports at major retail container ports in the U.S. have slowed down after a months-long rush to beat increased tariffs on goods from China, according to the monthly Global Port Tracker report released by the National Retail Federation and Hackett Associates.
_x000D_
_x000D_
Hackett Associates Founder Ben Hackett is projecting declining volumes in the coming months and an overall weakness in imports for the first half of the year.
_x000D_
_x000D_
U.S. ports covered by Global Port Tracker handled 1.81 million TEUs in November, the latest month for which after-the-fact numbers are available. That was up 2.5 percent year-over-year but down 11.4 percent from the record of 2.04 million TEU set in October.
_x000D_
_x000D_
December was estimated at 1.79 million TEU, a 3.7 percent year-over-year increase. That would bring 2018 to a total of 21.6 million TEU, an increase of 5.3 percent over 2017’s record 20.5 million TEU.
_x000D_
_x000D_
January is forecast at 1.75 million TEU, down 0.9 percent from January 2018; February at 1.67 million TEU, also down 0.9 percent year-over-year; March at 1.55 million TEU, up 0.6 percent; April at 1.69 million TEU, up 3.7 percent, and May at 1.8 million TEU, down 1.3 percent. February and March are typically two of the slowest months of the year for imports, both because of the post-holiday drop in demand and because of Lunar New Year factory shutdowns in Asia.
_x000D_
_x000D_
“With the holiday season behind us, the immediate pressure to stock up on merchandise has passed, but retailers remain concerned about tariffs and their impact on the nation’s economy,” NRF Vice President for Supply Chain and Customs Policy Jonathan Gold said. “Retailers have also brought in much of their spring merchandise early to protect consumers against higher prices that will eventually come with tariffs.” Gold is hoping the talks currently under way will bring an end to “this ill-advised trade war and result in a more appropriate way of responding to China’s trade abuses that won’t force American consumers, workers and businesses to pay the price.”
_x000D_
_x000D_
Global Port Tracker, which is produced for NRF by the consulting firm Hackett Associates, covers the U.S. ports of Los Angeles/Long Beach, Oakland, Seattle and Tacoma on the West Coast; New York/New Jersey, Port of Virginia, Charleston, Savannah, Port Everglades, Miami and Jacksonville on the East Coast, and Houston on the Gulf Coast.
_x000D_
source: www.maritime-executive.com
