US box traffic expected to be below 2007 levels: Port Tracker

CONTAINER traffic at major US retail ports is expected to remain at or below last year's levels owing to the nation's economic slowdown.

The prediction was made by the monthly Port Tracker report released by the National Retail Federation and Global Insight. "Import container traffic is forecast to continue to be quite weak through September due to the underlying weakness in consumer demand in the US economy," said federation vice president Jonathan Gold.

"Retailers are watching consumers' shopping patterns very carefully this year, and the volume of imports reflects what merchants expect they can sell in their stores. These numbers show a cautious approach to inventory management for this fall."

The report noted that while record high fuel prices continue to cause increasing pain for port truckers, port operations are expected to continue to remain steady with soft port traffic demand. "The covered ports are operating without congestion from harbour to gate with adequate capacity even as volumes are increasing," said Global Insight economist Paul Bingham.

US ports surveyed handled 1.16 million TEU in March, down 4.8 per cent from February 2008 and represented the lowest monthly volume since the 1.11 million TEU imported in February 2006. The number was down 8.5 per cent from March 2007, a Global Insight statement said.

April was estimated at 1.28 million TEU, down 3.2 per cent from a year ago, and May is forecast at 1.31 million TEU, down 4.8 per cent. June is forecast at 1.35 million TEU, down 7 per cent, and July at 1.41 million TEU, down 2 per cent.

The US ports covered are Los Angeles/Long Beach, Oakland, Seattle, Tacoma, New York/New Jersey, Hampton Roads, Charleston, Savannah and Houston.