According to the National Retail Federation (NRF), imports at major retail container ports in the U.S. saw an unexpected increase over the holidays. While cargo volume does not directly correlate with sales, correlate directly to sales, it indicates retailers’ expectations for sales.
“We won’t see final sales numbers for a few more days, but import volume suggests that retailers had a strong holiday season,” says Jonathan Gold, vice-president of Supply Chain and Customs Policy for the NRF. “Retailers don’t import merchandise unless they think they can sell it.”
Ports covered by Global Port Tracker handled 1.64 million Twenty-Foot Equivalent Units (TEU) in November. This was down 1.6 per cent from October, asmost imported holiday merchandise had already arrived. However, this was up 11.2 per cent from a year earlier.
Previously, the NRF had predicted a year-over-year increase of 3.6 per cent.
December was estimated at 1.54 million TEU, up 7 per cemt year-over-year. Additionally, its annual forecast called for $655.8 billion in 2016 holiday sales during November and December, a 3.6 per cent increase over 2015, while November sales were up 5 per cent year-over-year.
Cargo volume for 2016 is now estimated at 18.8 million TEU, up 2.9 per cent from 2015. Total volume for 2015 was 18.2 million TEU, up 5.4 per cent from 2014.
