• Advertise
  • Contact Us
  • About Us
  • Supplier Directory
  • Login
  • Subscribe
  • Logout
  • My Profile

  • CORONAVIRUS
  • LOGISTICS
    • Air Cargo
    • All Logistics
    • Express/Small Shipments
    • Facility Location Planning
    • Freight Forwarding/Customs Brokerage
    • Global Gateways
    • Global Logistics
    • Last Mile Delivery
    • Logistics Outsourcing
    • LTL/Truckload Services
    • Ocean Transportation
    • Rail & Intermodal
    • Reverse Logistics
    • Service Parts Management
    • Transportation & Distribution
  • TECHNOLOGY
    • All Technology
    • Artificial Intelligence
    • Cloud & On-Demand Systems
    • Data Management (Big Data/IoT/Blockchain)
    • ERP & Enterprise Systems
    • Forecasting & Demand Planning
    • Global Trade Management
    • Inventory Planning/ Optimization
    • Product Lifecycle Management
    • Sales & Operations Planning
    • SC Finance & Revenue Management
    • SC Planning & Optimization
    • Sourcing/Procurement/SRM
    • Supply Chain Visibility
    • Transportation Management
  • GENERAL SCM
    • Business Strategy Alignment
    • Education & Professional Development
    • Global Supply Chain Management
    • Global Trade & Economics
    • HR & Labor Management
    • Quality & Metrics
    • Regulation & Compliance
    • SC Security & Risk Mgmt
    • Sustainability & Corporate Social Responsibility
  • WAREHOUSING
    • All Warehouse Services
    • Conveyors & Sortation
    • Lift Trucks & AGVs
    • Order Fulfillment
    • Packaging
    • RFID, Barcode, Mobility & Voice
    • Robotics
    • Warehouse Management Systems
  • INDUSTRIES
    • Aerospace & Defense
    • Apparel
    • Automotive
    • Chemicals & Energy
    • Consumer Packaged Goods
    • E-Commerce/Omni-Channel
    • Food & Beverage
    • Healthcare
    • High-Tech/Electronics
    • Industrial Manufacturing
    • Pharmaceutical/Biotech
    • Retail
  • REGIONS
    • Asia Pacific
    • Canada
    • China
    • Europe
    • Latin America
    • Middle East/Africa
    • North America
  • THINK TANK
  • PODCASTS
  • VIDEOS
  • WHITEPAPERS
Home » With End of Holiday Shopping Season, Normal Level of U.S. Retail Imports Expected by April

With End of Holiday Shopping Season, Normal Level of U.S. Retail Imports Expected by April

January 12, 2016
NRF

"This is the time of year when the retail supply chain catches its breath before the next big rush begins," said Jonathan Gold, NRF vice president for supply chain and customs policy. "Retailers are still tallying the bottom line of the holiday season, but they’re also making plans for the spring and summer."

Ports covered by Global Port Tracker handled 1.48 million twenty-foot equivalent units in November, the latest month for which after-the-fact numbers are available. With most holiday merchandise already in the country by that point, volume was down 5 percent from October but up 6 percent from the year before. December was estimated at 1.44 million TEU, the same as 2014. One TEU is one 20-foot-long cargo container or its equivalent.

The numbers are still subject to revision, but 2015 came to a preliminary total of 18.2 million TEU, up 5.4 percent from 2014.

This month is forecast at 1.47 million TEU, up 18.9 percent from weak volume seen a year ago just before agreement on a contract with West Coast dockworkers ended months of congestion. February is forecast at 1.41 million TEU, up 17.5 percent, also skewed by the congestion. March is forecast at 1.34 million TEU, down 22.4 percent from high levels seen when a flood of backlogged cargo followed the contract agreement. Patterns are expected to return to normal in April, which is forecast at 1.48 million TEU, down 1.8 percent from last year. May is forecast at 1.55 million TEU, down 3.5 percent from last year.

Hackett Associates founder Ben Hackett said inventory levels remain high, partly because of warm weather that reduced demand for winter clothing.

“We continue to remain concerned about the high inventory-to-sales ratio,” Hackett said. “Enough time has passed since the disruption on the West Coast that we can no longer look to that for justification of the high level.”

Source: NRF

RELATED CONTENT

RELATED VIDEOS

Logistics Global Gateways Global Logistics Ocean Transportation Transportation & Distribution Technology Global Trade Management Transportation Management North America
KEYWORDS Global Gateways Global Logistics global trade Global Trade Management international trade Logistics Logistics Management: Ocean Transportation maritime shipping North America NRF Ocean Cargo Ocean Transportation Technology Transportation & Distribution Transportation Management U.S. consumer sales U.S. ports
  • Related Articles

    April Expected to See U.S. Retail Imports Rise by More Than 6 Percent

    U.S. Expected to See Retail Imports Grow 4.5 Percent in First Half of 2016

    U.S. Imports Return to Normal Levels Following Ratification of Labor Contract

  • Related Events

    Three Strategies to Get Ahead of E-commerce Fulfillment Demands

  • Related Directories

    Kuebix

NRF

Retailers Continue Cautious Stance on Merchandise Imports, Study Finds

More from this author

Wake up to Coronavirus Updates and the latest Supply Chain News!

Subscribe to our Daily Newsletter

Timely, incisive articles delivered directly to your inbox.

Popular Stories

  • Coronavirus-watch-Armada

    Virus Update: EU Vaccine Exports Surpass Internal Rollout; U.S. Economists Project ‘Spectacular’ Rise in Retail

    Coronavirus
  • Shipping Costs

    Higher Shipping Costs Are Here to Stay, Sparking Price Increases

    Coronavirus
  • Ocado

    Kroger Is Amassing a Robot Army to Battle Amazon, Walmart

    Logistics
  • Indoor Farm

    Vertical Farming: A Solution to Waste and Inefficiency in the Food Supply Chain?

    Sustainability & Corporate Social Responsibility
  • Shipping Logjam

    Reducing Supply-Chain Disruptions Through Integrated Logistics

    Coronavirus

Digital Edition

Scb feb 2021 lg

2021 Supply Chain Management Resource Guide

VIEW THE LATEST ISSUE

Case Studies

  • Remote Implementation: A Dose of the Right Medicine for B2B Pharmacy

  • LSP Saves Customer $1.5 Million a Year With MPO Global Inbound Management

  • Auto Supplier Wows Key Client Using riskmethods Supply Chain Savvy

  • Integrating Shipping and Compliance Saves Conglomerate Millions

  • How a Consumer Goods Giant Upped Its On-Time Delivery Performance

Visit Our Sponsors

Yang Ming 6 River Systems ArcBest
Armada aThingz BluJay
Burris Logistics DSC Logistics DCSA (Digital Container Shipping Association)
DHL Resilience360 Flash Global Genpact
Geodis GEP GreyOrange
Honeywell Corporate Honeywell Intelligrated Infor
Inmar Kibo Commerce Kinaxis
Logility Magnitude Software MPO
Old Dominion Oliver Wight OpenSky
Paccurate Ports America Purolator
QAD Precision Red Classic Riskmethods
S&H Systems Snapfulfil TGW Systems
Tradepoint Atlantic Transportation Insights Watson Land Company
Westfalia Technologies Workjam
  • More From SCB
    • Featured Content
    • Video Library
    • Think Tank Blog
    • SupplyChainBrain Podcast
    • Whitepapers
    • Webinars
  • Digital Offerings
    • Digital Issue
    • Subscribe
    • Manage Your Subscription
    • Newsletters
  • Resources
    • Events Calendar
    • SCB's Great Supply Chain Partners
    • Supplier Directory
    • Case Study Showcase
    • Supply Chain Innovation Awards
    • 100 Great Partners Form
  • SCB Corporate
    • Advertise on SCB.COM
    • About Us
    • Privacy Policy
    • Contact Us
    • Data Sharing Opt-Out

All content copyright ©2021 Keller International Publishing Corp All rights reserved. No reproduction, transmission or display is permitted without the written permissions of Keller International Publishing Corp

Design, CMS, Hosting & Web Development :: ePublishing