September U.S.-bound imports buck seasonal trend, with a slight gain over August, reports Descartes

The new edition of the September Global Shipping Report, which was recently issued by Waterloo, Ontario-based Descartes, a provider of logistics based on-demand, software-as-a-service offerings, was atypical in that U.S. container import volumes saw a modest increase over August.

The is the 26th edition of the Global Shipping Report, going back to its debut in August 2021.

From August to September, Descartes reported that U.S.-bound container import volumes saw a 0.3% increase, coming in at 2,203,452 TEU (Twenty-Foot Equivalent Units), which the report observed differs from the decline that typically occurs over the last third of the calendar year.

“The September increase in U.S. container imports bucked the traditional fall decline that has occurred for the previous six years and imports from China were a large contributor to the September results,” said Chris Jones, EVP Industry Descartes, in the report. “The drought in Panama does not appear to be affecting Gulf Coast port volumes; however, port transit times are starting to extend.”

For the top 10 U.S. ports, Descartes found that September U.S. container volume rose 0.7%, or 13,365 TEU, compared to August, with five ports posting gains, paced by the Port of Long Beach, up 11.2%, or 37,363 TEU, and the Port of Tacoma, up 31.6%, or 19,493 TEU. On the other end, the Port of Los Angeles was off 5.3%, or 21,693 TEU, and Port Authority of New York and New Jersey fell 4.8%, or 17,036 TEU.

And the report observed that volume share for the top West Coast ports was driven by the respective gains at Long Beach and Tacoma. When comparing the top five West Coast ports to the top five East and Gulf Coast ports, from August to September, Descartes noted that total West Coast ports import volume rose to 43.3%, a 1.4% increase, with the top East and Gulf Coast ports fell to 42.1%, a 1.0% decrease. When comparing larger ports to smaller ports, Descartes said the former’s share rose 0.3%, to 85.4%.

Volumes for the top 10 countries of origin, the report observed that September U.S. container import volume increased 1.7%, or 26,704 TEU, over August. Imports out of China increased by 34,850 TEU, and Italy saw the steepest decline, falling by 14,470 TEU.  

September port transit delays saw mixed readings, according to Descartes, with only one top West Coast port, the Port of Houston not seeing a reduction in transit time compared to August, with September representing one of the lowest months for delays over the history of the report. East and Gulf Coast ports all saw transit delay increases, led by the Port of Los Angeles, with a 1.2-day decrease, and the Port of Savannah, with a 2.2-day increase, from August to September.