Retailers Hold Out Hope on Consumer Spending

Monday Morning Wake Up Call – July 13, 2020

US retailers hold out hope

US retailers raised their expectations for imports May through October on the belief consumers will step up purchases, albeit slowly.

The Global Port Tracker, published monthly by the National Retail Federation (NRF) with Hackett Associates, projects total imports for the period will be 9.94 million TEU; that’s 0.7 percent higher than in its June forecast.

“The outlook for imports is slowly improving, but these are still some of the lowest numbers we’ve seen in years,” Jonathan Gold, vice president for supply chain and customs policy at NRF, said in a statement.

You can read more here: https://www.joc.com/port-news/us-ports/us-retailers-upgrade-import-forecast-maintain-caution_20200708.html

US importers from Asia are turning more to non-vessel operating carriers

US containerized imports from Asia in the first half of 2020 are projected to be down 9.3 percent from the first six months of 2019. That is slightly better than the 10 percent decline Global Port Tracker projected in June.

Imports from Asia declined 9.8 percent in January through May from the year-ago period, according to the latest numbers from PIERS, a JOC.com sister company within IHS Markit. GTA Forecasting, which is part of IHS Markit, forecasts that US imports from Asia in calendar year 2020 will decline 7.6 percent from last year.

To read more: https://www.joc.com/maritime-news/container-lines/us-importers-asia-rush-nvos-amid-tight-capacity_20200625.html

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