Following negative numbers in four of the last five months, import volume at the nation's major retail container ports is expected to grow 1.7 percent in August over the same month last year and should continue to see gains through the holiday season and the remainder of 2013, according to the monthly Global Port Tracker report released by the National Retail Federation and Hackett Associates. The year is expected to end with a 2.4-percent increase over 2012.

The latest issue of Drewry's Container Insight Weekly includes an analysis of how a Suez Canal closure would affect the container industry. Were social unrest in Egypt to disrupt shipping through the waterway, Drewry's concludes that there are enough vessels to move goods around Africa.

APL, ANL and Hanjin Shipping are teaming up to provide a new weekly container service covering Asia, Australia and New Zealand.

The logistics group of Crowley Maritime Corp. is launching a weekly less-than-containerload (LCL) service from Chicago to the Caribbean and Central America.

A series of general rate increases on the Asia-North Europe trade have gone into effect as container shipping lines once again attempt to force freight rates up to break-even levels, amid warnings from shippers and analysts that pricing volatility is set to continue - and possibly worsen.