SIMIC

If the next two months follow historical trends, February's import volumes will drop as factories in Asia slowly ramp up production after closing for two weeks or more for the holidays, which began on February 1. Imports should surge again in March. Imports from Asia last March set the monthly record that was broken last month.

US imports from Asia totalled 1.7 million TEU in January, a 4.5 per cent increase from January 2021 and a 14.6 per cent jump from December, according to PIERS. The Global Port Tracker report, published monthly by the National Retail Federation and Hackett Associates, forecast that when total import volumes this month are finalised, they will be up 8.7 per cent from last February, which were the lowest for all of 2021. The report predicts imports will fall 6.7 per cent year over year in March, rise 2 per cent in April, fall 2.6 per cent in May, and rise 5.2 per cent in June.

The spike in imports from Asia last month compared with December, a time of year when imports traditionally slow following the holiday season, reflects congestion in the trans-Pacific trade that affected major gateways on both US coasts. Generally, those ports that saw double-digit percentage growth in import volumes last month over December were the most congested.

The Los Angeles-Long Beach complex, which handles about 50 per cent of US imports from Asia, saw volumes from Asia rise 25.8 per cent month over month in January. Imports increased 12.7 per cent sequentially in Savannah, 39.1 per cent in the Northwest Seaport Alliance of Seattle and Tacoma, 16.8 per cent in Houston, 19.7 per cent in Oakland, and 14.1 per cent in Charleston. The largest vessel backlogs have been in Los Angeles-Long Beach and Charleston.

Asian imports in January declined 2.2 percent in New York-New Jersey and 10.6 percent in Norfolk from December.

Import volumes in the first half of 2022 are expected to stabilise to the West Coast but continue growing to the East Coast, according to the weekly Sunday Spotlight newsletter from Sea-Intelligence Maritime Analysis. "Volume growth across North America East Coast ports is exceptionally strong," said Sea-Intelligence CEO Alan Murphy.