Due to shifting trade patterns and high business inventories at the US West Coast (USWC), the busiest ports along the US East Coast (USEC) have seen imports decline in May, 2016, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Imports were 4.7% lower in May, 2016 compared to the same month in 2015 at the ports of New York and New Jersey.
Ben Hackett, CEO of research firm Hackett Associates LLC, said: “The peak season has disappeared. Carriers have already taken out capacity, and if there was a strong peak season coming, they wouldn’t do that. It’s partly overall trade declining. But it’s also that importers simply bought too much.”
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This comes despite recent news by PTI that the USEC had overtaken the USWC for imports, as well as for market share in overall containerised goods.
This was promptly followed by an update that the USEC could remain competitive over their West Coast rivals as volumes continue to increase.
Also, with the recent inauguration of the expanded Panama Canal, the USEC could be set to increase volumes further as shippers opt for the East Coast, as opposed to relying on rail to transport containers from the West to the East.
