Descartes’ October Global Shipping Report points to above pre-pandemic volumes

The new edition of the October Global Shipping Report, which was recently issued by Waterloo, Ontario-based Descartes, a provider of logistics based on-demand, software-as-a-service offerings, observed that United States-bound import patterns were again atypical from normal patterns on a few different fronts.

The is the 27th edition of the Global Shipping Report, going back to its debut in August 2021.

From September to October, Descartes reported that U.S.-bound container import volumes increased 4.7%, coming in at 2,307,918 Twenty-Foot Equivalent Units (TEU), which it said was inconsistent with the Peak Season decline that traditionally starts in the August timeframe, while rising 3.9% annually. And it added that while volumes were up port transit times either stabilized, or retreated, to some of their lowest levels throughout the time the company has tracked this metric.

“October has traditionally been a stronger month than September. However, the last two months show an increase above pre-pandemic 2019 import levels, which are counter to the declines expected at the end of the year,” said Chris Jones, EVP Industry Descartes, in the report. “The drought in Panama still does not appear to be affecting Gulf Coast port volumes or to have caused a shift to West Coast ports.” 

For the top 10 U.S. ports, Descartes found that October U.S. container volume increased by 87,652 TEU, from September to October, with six ports posting gains, paced by the Port of New York/New Jersey up 13.1%, or 44,621 TEU, and the Port of Charleston up 20,993 TEU, or 21.0%. On the other end, the Port of Los Angeles was down 16,813 TEU, or 4.3%.

The report noted that volume share for the top East and Gulf Coast ports headed up 3.0%, to 45.1%, while the top West Coast ports’ volume share was down 3.7%, to 39.6%. When compared to smaller ports, the top 10 ports’ share in October decreased slightly to 84.8%, down 0.6% versus September.

For the top 10 countries of origin, Descartes said that U.S. container import volume in October was up 4.1%, or 64,950 TEU, compared to September, with China having the highest volume increase, at 20,081 TEU, and Japan having the steepest volume decline, down 5,643 TEU.

Looking at port transit delays, Descartes stated that overall port transit delays saw reductions, from September to October. The top East and Gulf Coast ports stabilized with two ports, Norfolk and Houston, experiencing transit delay decreases. And the Port of Seattle experienced the greatest decrease, at 1.6 days, and the Port of New York/New Jersey had was up slightly, at 0.1 days, in October 2023 compared to September.

The drought in Panama still does not appear to be impacting U.S. container import volumes and transit times decreased, according to the report. Volumes at Gulf Coast ports followed overall U.S. container import volumes and hit their highest for the year in October. Transit times fell for the Ports of Houston, down 1.1 days, Mobile, down 1.0 days), Tampa, down 2.0 days, and New Orleans, down 1.1 days in October.