Ports around the nation will be working hard to satisfy demand, according to the National Retail Federation, and there won’t be any influence on the holiday shopping season.
Washington According to the Global Port Tracker study released today by the National Retail Federation and Hackett Associates, imports at the country’s major container ports should continue at elevated levels this month despite a strike that momentarily halted operations from Maine to Texas last week.
Jonathan Gold, vice president of supply chain and customs policy at NRF, stated that the strike’s brief duration was “a huge relief for retailers, their customers, and the nation’s economy.” “We can be confident that all ports nationwide will be working hard to meet demand, and no impact on the holiday shopping season is expected. It will take the affected ports a few weeks to recover.”
He went on to say that the strike had some effects. Retailers who moved delivery to the West Coast or brought in cargo early will have to pay more for warehousing and transportation. But before the short-term extension expires in mid-January, it is now imperative that the parties negotiate in good faith and come to an agreement on a long-term deal. We don’t want to experience a similar interruption in the future,” Gold remarked.
After their contract with the U.S. Maritime Alliance expired, members of the International Longshoremen’s Association went on strike in container ports on the East and Gulf Coasts on October 1. However, the walkout only lasted three days, coming to an end after a short-term contract extension until January 15th and a provisional salary raise were agreed upon. Following a coalition formed by NRF, President Biden was asked to use “any and all authority” to put a stop to the strike.
Beginning this spring, ports had to deal with abnormally high cargo volumes as importers brought products in ahead of schedule due to the possibility of a strike and moved numerous vessels to the West Coast, where dockworkers are covered by a different union.
Rather than a sudden spike in demand, Hackett Associates Founder Ben Hackett stated that the boost in imports over the last three months was evidently the product of contingency imports by wholesalers, retailers, and industrial companies in anticipation of the East and Gulf Coast port strike. “Delays on the East Coast should be minimal, and there might be some brief congestion on the West Coast, but nothing major.”
Although the Ports of New York/New Jersey & Miami have not yet released final data, 2.34 million Twenty-Foot Equivalent Units—one 20-foot container or its equivalent—were handled in August by U.S. ports covered by Global Port Tracker. At 19.3 percent year over year and up 0.9 percent from July, it was the largest amount since May 2022, when 3.4 million TEUs were recorded.
Although ports have not yet released September’s figures, Global Port Tracker predicted 2.29 million TEU for the month, an increase of 12.9% from the previous year. 2.12 million TEU are expected in October, up 3.1% from the previous year. That is marginally more than the 2.08 million TEU estimate that was made for October one month prior, and the strike did not seem to have an impact on national totals.
December is expected to be 1.88 million TEU, up 0.2 percent, and November to be 1.91 million TEU, up 0.9 percent year over year. By doing so, 2024 would have 24.9 million TEU, up 12.1% from 2023. Due to variations in the dates of Asian manufacturers’ Lunar New Year shutdowns, January 2025 is predicted to be 1.98 million TEU, up 0.8 percent from the previous year, and February 2025 to be 1.74 million TEU, down 11.2 percent.
The import data coincide with NRF’s projection that retail sales in 2024 will increase by 2.5 to 3.5 percent over 2023, omitting auto dealers, petrol stations, and restaurants in favor of core retail.
