Activity at American ports being tracked by the Global Port Tracker fell in February to the lowest level seen in five years as imports continued to plummet.

Imports saw a 6.8% drop year-on-year, accounting for 1.51 million 20-foot-equivalent unit (TEUs) containers in February. The latest data also showed imports sequentially down 17% from the imports recorded in January this year. 

Fewer US imports

“Even as factories in China have begun to get back to work, we are seeing far fewer imports coming into the United States than previously expected,” said Jonathan Gold, vice president of supply chain and customs policy at the National Retail Federation.

“Many stores are closed, and consumer demand has been impacted with millions of Americans out of work. 

NRF and Hackett Associates produce the port tracker, which logs activity at the West Coast ports ⁠— Port of Los Angeles, Long Beach and Oakland in California; and Seattle and Tacoma in Washington.

It also monitors East Coast ports including New York-New Jersey; Virginia; Charleston, S.C.; Savannah, Ga; and the Everglades, Miami and Jacksonville in Florida; and the Houston port on the Gulf Coast. 

Double-digit losses in the near term

The near-term outlook remains soft with double-digit losses. The Global Port Tracker forecast the first six months of 2020 to total 8.93 million TEUs, tumbling 15.1% from the same time a year ago. 

Prior to the pandemic the forecast given wa 10.47 million TEUs for the first half.

While March results are not yet available, estimates say imports could drop 21.3% to 1.27 million TEUs year-over-year — the lowest level since 1.21 million TEUs were processed in February 2015 during a labor dispute at West Coast ports. 

April’s forecast is expected to be down 17.6%; May estimates see a decline of 20.1%; for June the estimate a drop of 21.4%; for July a decline of 18.2%; and for August, a drop of 12.5%.

“The COVID-19 pandemic is unraveling the economy nationally and globally as most of the world moves toward a lockdown that entails the closure of significant portions of both the service and manufacturing industries,” said Ben Hackett, founder of Hackett Associates.

“The largest drop is forecast for the first half of this year, but with uncertainty about the length of the lockdown and extent of the pandemic, the second half may not be in better shape,” he added.

 Concerns over empty containers, limited warehouse space

The statement noted that two issues of concern to port operators include the growing number of empty containers stored at ports as activity from Asia remains well below annual levels.

There's also concern about scant warehouse space as thousands of pallets of products ordered months ago are not being picked up by retailers because stores are temporarily shuttered across the country.

The American Association of Port Authorities said getting the supply chain back in balance could take months. 

“There is a backlog of empties. This has been going on for some time, and it’s largely a product of the blank sailings or canceled calls at ports. Now, these canceled calls result in a few different issues,” said Cary Davis, director of government relations at the American Association of Port Authorities.

 “Some of the ports have been very effective at rebooking calls with different shipping lines to carry away the empties and some not so much.”