MaxedOutMama

The falloff "reflects the consumer-demand-driven weakness in the U.S. economy," said Paul Bingham, an economist with Global Insight, a research firm that monitors cargo movements for the nation's top retailers.
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"Some of our bank customers who are retailers catering to the Hispanic population -- they are having tough times," Sohn added. "They're ordering less because they're not selling as much."
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Imports of building materials plunged 20% in the second quarter from year-earlier figures, the most recent period for which detailed statistics are available. Furniture imports fell 17%, clothing declined 10% and footwear was down 8%, he said.

Traffic at U.S.-based retail container ports is expected to increase in July and hit a record high in August in the buildup toward the October peak season despite the threat of strike at Los Angeles/Long Beach, according to the monthly Port Tracker Report by the National Retail Federation (NRF) and Global Insight.

The ports surveyed in the report—including Los Angeles/Long Beach, Oakland, Tacoma, Seattle, New York/New Jersey, Hampton Roads, Charleston, and Savannah—handled 1.37 million TEUs in May, the most recent month for which actual numbers are available. May’s total was up 3.3 percent from this April but down 0.2 percent from May 2006. July is expected an increase of 5.4 percent over June on container traffic volumes.

Over the course of August, September, and October, traffic at United States-based retail container ports will exceed last year’s record high, as peak season freight is now being loaded onto vessels and moving through the supply chain, according to the monthly Port Tracker Report by the National Retail Federation, a retail trade association, and Global Insight, a provider of economic and financial information.

The ports surveyed in the report—including Los Angeles/Long Beach, Oakland, Tacoma, Seattle, New York/New Jersey, Hampton Roads, Charleston, and Savannah—handled a cumulative 1.45 million TEUs (Twenty-foot equivalents) in June, the most recent month for which traffic is available. June’s total was 2 percent volume improvement over March and was 5.8 percent below April 2006’s output.

This effort was up 3.2 percent from June 2006 and up 6.2 percent from this May. Volume continued up in July, which was estimated at 1.5 million TEU, up 8.1 percent from July 06. August is going to be hectic and is expected to break the last October’s record set last October, and September will be a bit slower but will still top last October, and October will set another whole new record, according to Tracker author and Global Insight economist Paul Bingham.

Traffic at United States-based retail container ports is projected to set another record in October after experiencing what is expected to be a down month in September, according to the monthly Port Tracker Report by the National Retail Federation, a retail trade association, and Global Insight, a provider of economic and financial information.

The ports surveyed in the report—including Los Angeles/Long Beach, Oakland, Tacoma, Seattle, New York/New Jersey, Hampton Roads, Charleston, and Savannah—handled a cumulative 1.46 million TEUs (Twenty-foot equivalents) in July, the most recent month for which data is available. July’s total represented a 4.9 percent improvement from July 2006 and was 0.6 percent ahead of the previous month’s total in June.

The report stated that ports surveyed handled an estimated 1.52 million TEUs in August, which was up 2.3 percent from August 2006 and broke the record of 1.51 million TEUs set in October 2006.

Although traffic at United States-based retail ports was expected expected to be record-breaking this fall due to Peak Season, it appears those projections may ultimately come up short, according to the monthly Port Tracker report by the National Retail Federation, a retail trade association, and Global Insight a provider of economic and financial information.

The ports surveyed in the report—including Los Angeles/Long Beach, Oakland, Tacoma, Seattle, New York/New Jersey, Hampton Roads, Charleston, and Savannah—handled a cumulative 1.46 million TEU (Twenty-foot equivalents) in August, the most recent month for which data is available. The Port Tracker report indicated that surveyed ports were forecasted to handle 1.52 million TEU in August, which would have surpassed the previous record of 1.51 million TEU from October 2007. August’s total was ahead of July’s output by 1.5 percent, but was off 1.4 percent from August 2006, according to the report.

The report also noted that September, which was originally predicted to match September 2006 at 1.48 million TEU, is now expected to hit 1.46 million TEU, which is 1.9 percent less than a year ago.