advertisement

---

U.S. toy retailers are anticipating a strong holiday shopping season — good news for the volume of containerized imports at the nation’s ports, according to global import and export information service PIERS.

Through 2010’s first nine months, U.S. containerized toy imports increased 20 percent year over year to 398,137 20-foot equivalent units (TEUs).  

Ninety-one percent of toys imported to the United States originate from China, up 19.3 percent. Vietnam and Taiwan import 1.1 percent of all toys, while Taiwan's growth volume has been flat, according to PIERS.

The busiest U.S. ports handling inbound toy shipments: California's Port of Los Angeles and Port of Long Beach. Through September, the L.A. port handled 106,741 TEUs, up by 22.7 percent, and Long Beach port handled 91,608 TEUs, up 24.7 percent.  

“Although consumer spending in the U.S. is recovering, there remains the risk of [toy] price increases in the near future,” said PIERS Economist Mario Moreno in a prepared statement.