Imports are increasing instead of decreasing! U.S. port capacity is close to limit

Since the beginning of this year, there have been many strikes in Europe and the United States. Since the strike wave began, freight issues have been the focus of attention.

The wave of strikes in Europe and the United States began in Germany in March, followed by workers' strikes in many European and American countries including Italy, Spain, the United States, and the United Kingdom. The areas covered included warehouses, railways, ports, shipping and other fields, causing varying degrees of damage to the freight network.

Focusing on the United States, which has been hit by a slowing economy, inflation and high fuel costs, Walmart recently announced that it had canceled billions of dollars in orders to help align inventory levels with expected demand. Target later disclosed that it had canceled more than $1.5 billion in orders.

Still, U.S. Customs data showed no signs of slowing down in U.S. container imports in August compared with July, with import activity remaining high. Long ship queues at ports in New York, New Jersey, Savannah, and Houston guarantee strong import volumes at least until this month, simply because of offshore cargo backlogs.

According to a report by Descartes Datamyne, a US research company , the import volume of US shipping containers in July this year increased compared with the total volume in June, and the import volume has increased every month since the beginning of this year compared with the same period last year. Descartes Datamyne believes that the continued increase in throughput at West Coast ports, the increasing delays at major ports on the East Coast and the Gulf of Mexico, and the number of ships waiting on the water will make the performance of the global supply chain more unpredictable.

The situation now is that the unprecedented throughput of US ports is not enough to clear the number of containers waiting to be berthed, and there are still more than 100 container ships waiting for berths outside North American ports. Due to the impact of workers' strikes, the increasing number of containers in ports, and continued congestion, the capacity of US ports has almost reached its limit.

Descartes Datamyne said port congestion became a significant issue starting in March 2021, when U.S. imports consistently exceeded 2.4 million TEUs per month.

U.S. consumption levels and imports remain well above pre-pandemic levels, the U.S. port system continues to operate at maximum throughput, and monthly import volumes appear to be rebounding near capacity limits.

The McCown report analyzed the throughput of the top 10 ports in the United States and found that imports at these ports increased by 0.7% year-on-year in July. Imports at major ports on the East Coast and Gulf Coast increased by 6.6%, while imports at West Coast ports decreased by 4.9%. McCown said that in order to cope with this growth, more than marginal improvements in capacity are needed, but new container terminals and even brand new container ports are needed to effectively handle container volumes in the following decade. This will require a lot of infrastructure investment, but the funding needs need to be balanced with the recent disruptions, otherwise such disruptions will become more frequent over time.

American Ports

container