Imports to the top 10 U.S. ports grew by 5.9% year-on-year (y/y) to 2.16 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) in June despite recessionary concerns, according to The McCown Report. The growth has exceeded the 3% y/y gain in May and 5.1% gain in April.
Imports to the top East/Gulf Coast ports rose 9.7% y/y in June, driven by double-digit surges in New York/New Jersey, Houston, and Savannah, Georgia. Imports to West Coast ports rose 2.3%. Compared to June 2019, pre-COVID, import volumes to the top 10 U.S. ports were up 26.9% last month, said McCown. East/Gulf Coast ports were up 40.3%, and West Coast ports 15.8%.
Descartes’ U.S. containerized report said 2.48 million TEUs were imported to all American ports in June, up 3% y/y and up 26% from June 2019, pre-pandemic (see Figure 1).
The number of ships at anchor off U.S. container ports is still increasing. Data from MarineTraffic and the latest queuing lists point to 140 container vessels waiting for offshore North American ports. 37% were waiting off West Coast ports and 63% were at the East and Gulf Coast ports. There are large queues off Savannah, New York/New Jersey, and Houston.
According to McCown, “The port congestion situation has morphed from primarily impacting the West Coast to … all coastal ranges.” McCown said congestion at U.S. ports was not due to failure in getting containers off the vessels but the inability to get boxes out of the terminal. This has been compounded by slowdowns in on-dock rail service out of Los Angeles/Long Beach and more recently by truckers opposed to California’s independent contractor law, AB5.
Source: American Shipper / Shipco Transport Inc
