A new report predicts that import cargo at major container ports in the U.S. will top two million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) in May.
That will mark the first time that number has crested two million since fall of 2023. And even as Houthi rebel attacks on ships in the Red Sea and drought conditions at the Panama Canal have limited traffic through the critical shipping channels, U.S. imports have continue to increase, according to the Global Port Tracker (GPT) report released by the National Retail Federation and Hackett Associates.
The report details how carriers have successfully adjusted to challenges in the Red Sea and at the Panama Canal by rerouting shipments, adding vessels, and increasing vessel speeds to account for longer voyages.
“Doing so has resulted in relatively stable supply chains within a short period of time,” Hackett Associates founder Ben Hackett said, also cautioning that additional pressures on capacity “could seriously impact the market.”
In February, U.S. ports monitored by the Global Port Tracker handled 1.96 million TEUs, a 26.3% increase from that month in the previous year. Official numbers have not been released for March yet, but the GPT projects around 1.8 million TEUs, an 11% year-over-year increase. April is forecast at 1.93 million TEUs, while May’s projection sits at 2.04 million. May’s TEU volume would be the highest total since October 2023.
