U.S. Import Boom Will Continue into Summer

(International Freighting Weekly – Mike King)

Retailers stock up as consumer spending gets back on course

U.S. retailers will continue to import containers at significantly higher volume levels than last year until at least late summer, according to leading forecasters. One Asia-based analyst said: “U.S. retail stocks are growing, which is a good indicator for container markets. U.S. retail spending is clearly increasing and we’re expecting 14-16% year-on-year growth into the US this quarter.”

February was the third successive month to show year-on-year volume gains at U.S. container ports, following 28 months of continuous decline, according to the monthly Global Port Tracker report produced for the U.S. National Retail Federation (NRF) by consultancy Hackett Associates. Jonathan Gold, NRF VP for supply chain and customs policy, said: “We expect these numbers to continue to climb as merchants and their customers move away from recession and back toward normal shopping habits.”

Member shipping lines of the Transpacific Stabilisation Agreement are understood to have been successful in introducing general rate increases in both directions on lanes between Asia and the U.S. Read more here.