Port Tracker reports January and February US box decline

ACCORDING to the US Port Tracker report issued by the National Retail Federation (NRF) and IHS Global Insight, its 10 surveyed US ports in January were down 0.5 per cent to handling 1.05 million TEU.

The port's traffic also fell 14.6 per cent compared with January previous, marking the 19th-straight month volume decline on a year over year basis.

February volume at the 10 major container ports - which are located in California, Texas, Washington, New York/New Jersey, Virginia, Georgia and South Carolina - was estimated at 1 million TEU, which would represent a 17.7 per cent drop from February 2008's level.

February is traditionally the slowest month of the year, so we're now at the point where we'll see a gradual increase in volume as retailers bring in spring and summer merchandise and build up toward the holiday season, said Jonathan Gold, NRF vice president.

Port Tracker projects March volume at 1.07 million TEU, which would represent a 5.3 per cent increase from February's level but a 7.4 per cent decline from March 2008's total. April is forecast at 1.14 million TEU, down 10.3 per cent; May is projected at 1.16 million TEU, down 11.4 per cent; June is estimated at 1.19 million TEU, down 8.6 per cent and July is forecast at 1.21 million TEU, down 7.5 per cent year on year, said the report.

Source: Portnews