In June, U.S. ports recorded a 5.9% downturn in imports compared to May’s record volumes.
The National Retail Federation (NRF) and Hackett Associates announced this in their recently released monthly Global Port Tracker report.
U.S ports handled 2.25 million TEUs; a 4.9% increase over the same month last year.
With June’s results, the number of TEUs imported in the first half of the year rose to 13.5 million, up 5.5 % year-on-year.
According to Ben Hackett, founder of Hackett Associates, the boom in imports will be over soon. The forecast for the next few months is for a downturn in volumes compared to 2021, which is expected to get worse in 2023.
Although July’s figures are not final, the month is expected to close with a 3.2% increase over 2021. This is likely to change dramatically in August, which is estimated to have a 3% year-on-year decline.
The forecast for the final figures for the second half of the year is 12.8 million TEUs, down 1.5 % compared to the second half of 2021, while the full year is expected to close with a total of 26.3 million TEUs. a 2% increase over 2021.
Translation by Giles Foster
