U.S. vessel imports were up 3.7 percent from 2012, which totaled over 18.2 million TEUs (twenty-foot containers) brought into the United States last year. U.S. imports in 2013 started off at a slow start but ended with a surprising and unexpected surge from July through December. Annual TEUs haven't been this high since 2007, which is a good sign for a strong recession rebound in the U.S. trade industry. So far in 2014, the first three weeks of imports in January are already 5.2 percent higher than the same time last year.

U.S. vessel imports are up from December by 6.9% and just above January of 2012 by 0.1%. The total TEU count for January was 1,518,851 and shipments were over 750,000. January imports have not been this high since 2007, which signals some steady rebounding growth for 2013.

U.S. import volume in November, measured in twenty-foot-containers, is down 12.8 percent from October and another 15.2 percent from November of last year. The total number of TEUs imported for the month was 1,245,889. This is the lowest amount of U.S. imports for the month of November since 2003.

U.S. import volume in October, measured in twenty-foot-containers, is down 6.8 percent from September and another 4.8 percent from October of last year. This is total of 1,433,446 containers imported.

U.S. import shipment volume for September, measured in TEUs, is down 3.6 percent from August, but is up from September of 2011 by 2.6 percent. Imports of TEUs shifted from more than 1.6 million last month to 1.55 million in September. The downward trend of the last two months of Q3 indicates that the peak month for U.S. imports in 2012 will most likely be July. For the past three years the month of August has seen the highest vessel imports, but this year the surge in goods for the holiday season seems to have come even earlier in Q3.

Zepol Corporation, a trade intelligence company, reports that U.S. import shipment volume for June, measured in TEUs, was down 3.7 percent from May, but is up 4.4 percent from June 2011. Similarly, Q2 of 2012 has topped last year at this time by 4.7 percent. Although there was a drop from last month, June had the second-highest TEU imports so far this year, outdoing January by a slight 1 percent. Last year saw a comparable trend in the summer months with a moderate dip in June, but spikes in July and August.

International trade data indicates that U.S. import shipment volume for May, measured in TEUs, increased 5.6 percent from April and 3.5 percent from May 2011.

U.S. import shipment volume for April, measured in TEUs, increased 9.2% from March and 7.2% from April of 2011, according to Zepol Corporation, a trade intelligence company.