SIMIC

"Strong consumer demand has outpaced supply chain operations since late last year and could remain a challenge as the holidays approach," said NRF vice president Jonathan Gold.

"Back-to-school supplies have been hit by the same supply chain disruptions and port congestion that have affected other products this year, but retailers are working hard to ensure that school and college goods are where they need to be," said Mr Gold.

"The continuing lack of labour, equipment and capacity has highlighted systemic issues and the need to create a truly 21st century supply chain to ensure resiliency against the next major disruption. ."

"The strain of the continuing economic expansion is putting considerable pressure on the logistics supply chain," said Hackett Associates founder Ben Hackett, whose organisation produces the port tracker report.

"We're seeing a lack of shipping capacity combined with port congestion as vessels line up to discharge goods from both Asia and Europe." said Mr Hackett.

"Delays are stretching to landside as port terminals struggle with space shortages, and labour challenges are affecting ports, railroads and trucking companies alike. This part of the recovery is not a pretty sight," he said.

Ports covered by Port Tracker handled 2.15 million TEU in June, the latest month for which final numbers are available. That was down 7.8 per cent from May but up 33.7 per cent from a year earlier, when many stores were closed because of the pandemic.

Ports have not reported July numbers yet, but Global Port Tracker projected the month at 2.22 million TEU, which would be up 15.7 percent from the same time last year.

August is forecast at 2.37 million TEU, which would be up 12.6 per cent year on year and top May's 2.33 million TEU for the largest number of containers imported during a single month since NRF began tracking imports in 2002.

August is the beginning of the "peak season" when retailers stock up on holiday merchandise each year. Many retailers are moving up their shipments this year as part of their risk mitigation strategies to ensure that sufficient inventory will be available during the holidays.

September is forecast at 2.21 million TEU, up 4.9 per cent year on year; October at 2.15 million TEU, down three percent for the first year-on-year decline since July 2020; November at 2.07 million TEU, down 1.5 per cent, and December at 2.02 million TEU, down 4.1 per cent.

The first half of 2021 totalled 12.8 million TEU, up 35.6 per cent from the same period last year. For the full year, 2021 is on track to total 25.9 million TEU, up 17.5 per cent over 2020 and a new annual record topping last year's 22 million. Cargo imports during 2020 were up 1.9 percent over 2019 despite the pandemic.

Global Port Tracker covers Los Angeles/Long Beach, Oakland, Seattle and Tacoma on the West Coast; New York/New Jersey, Port of Virginia, Charleston, Savannah, Port Everglades, Miami and Jacksonville on the East Coast, and Houston on the Gulf Coast.