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4/11/2022
The nation’s major retail container ports have begun to catch up with the backlog of cargo seen over the past several months, but could experience another surge this summer, according to the monthly Global Port Tracker report released last week by the National Retail Federation and Hackett Associates.
"As we entered 2022, the biggest question was when the supply chain would return to normal," said NRF Vice President for Supply Chain and Customs Policy Jonathan Gold in a press release. "Unfortunately, we still don’t have a definitive answer."
Although congestion at West Coast ports has eased, congestion at some East Coast ports is growing, he said.
"Ports aren’t as overwhelmed as they were a year ago, but they are still significantly busy moving near-record volumes of cargo," Gold said.
U.S. ports covered by Global Port Tracker handled 2.11 million 20-foot equivalent units in February, the latest month for which final numbers are available. That was down 2.3% from January's level, but up 13% year over year.
Volumes remained high in February despite factories in parts of Asia closing for the Lunar New Year holiday because U.S. ports were able to handle cargo from ships already waiting for a berth, said Hackett Associates Founder Ben Hackett.