Volume is expected to follow its usual pattern of declining over the winter months, although numbers will continue to show growth above one year ago. December is forecast at 1.32 million TEU (up 10.1 percent from December 2005), January at 1.27 million (up 4.2 percent from January 2006), and February at 1.2 million TEU (up 13.4 percent from February 2006).
Volume will begin to move upward again in March, forecast at 1.3 million TEU (up 4.8 percent from March 2006). April is forecast at 1.38 million TEU (up 4.6 percent from April 2006), and May at 1.41 million TEU (up 7.3 percent from May 2006). One TEU is a 20-foot cargo container or its equivalent.
Port Tracker, which is produced by the economic research, forecasting and analysis firm Global Insight for NRF, looks at inbound container volume, the availability of trucks and railroad cars to move cargo out of the ports, labor conditions and other factors that affect cargo movement and congestion.
National Retail Federation
marketing@alchempro.com
