August Container Imports Set Record High, Boding Well for Q4 Sales, Says NRF
August imports as tallied by the National Retail Federation in its “global port tracker” report rose to a record high for the second straight month, said the trade group in a Tuesday announcement. The trend bodes well for an upbeat…
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
Export Compliance Daily combines U.S. export control news, foreign border import regulation and policy developments into a single daily information service that reliably informs its trade professional readers about important current issues affecting their operations.
holiday selling season, said NRF: “When imports break records two months in a row, it’s hard to see that as anything other than a good sign about what retailers expect in consumer demand. Consumers are buying more, and everybody from dockworkers to truck drivers is trying to keep up. We hope this is a sign of a strong holiday season for retailers, shoppers and our nation’s economy.” Ports covered in the tracker report handled 1.8 million 20-foot-long cargo containers or their equivalents in August, the highest monthly volume since NRF began tracking imports in 2000, said the trade group. The previous record of 1.78 million containers was set a month earlier, in July, it said. NRF is forecasting 2017 imports to rise 5.4 percent from last year to 19.8 million containers, topping 2016’s 3.1 percent increase over 2015, it said. NRF’s forecast last week said holiday retail sales for November and December would rise 3.6-4 percent over 2016 (see 1710030036).