US Container imports leave the pandemic behind

WATWERLOO:UScontainerimport volumes continued to track closely with 2019 levels in May 2023, falling well belowinflated2021and2022volumes.

According to a report from Descartes, May 2023 US container imports were 2.1 mn TEU, up 3.8% on April 2023 volumes. The figure was 20% lower than May 2022, but 0.5% above May 2019; 2023 volumes have so far tracked2019levelswithina1.3%margin forJanuarythroughMay.

Among the top 10 US container ports, Tacoma had the largest proportional on-month increase in imports, up 33.3%, while in TEU terms, LA had the largest increase, up 56,226 TEUon-month.

Acrossthetop10ports,importswere up 68,742 overall compared to April 2023, although only half of the ports recorded an increase in volumes. Long Beach, Savannah and Houston all recorded drops of around 6,000 TEU, there was a 1,100TEUdropatCharlestonanda4,900 TEUdropatBaltimore.

The five largest West Coast ports took 41.5% of US imports, while the top East Coast and Gulf Coast ports took 42.8%,anincreaseof1.8%forWestCoast ports and drop of 1.2% for the East and Gulf Coasts. Port transit times increased across all of the top 10 US ports in May, compared to April, reachingfiguressimilartothoseseenat theendof2022,saidDescartes.

The company further warned that the return of Asia-origin container to the West Coast ports could be delayed bytheongoingnegotiationswithunions, and the actions by workers that are impactingcontainerprocessing.

China continued to account for over a third of US container imports in May, with 780,684 TEU, up 5.1% on month. The figure represented 37.2% of US box imports coming from China, up 0.4% fromApril2023.

China topped the list of container origins and the had the largest increase in imports on-month, followed by Vietnam. Imports from Japan slipped 14.3% due to the Golden Week holiday in earlyMay.