Descartes May Global Shipping Report sees sees decent sequential traction despite volume declines

United States-bound container import volumes again saw decent sequential traction, coupled with an annual decline, from April to May, according to the recently-issued May Global Shipping Report from Waterloo, Ontario-based Descartes, a provider of logistics based on-demand, software-as-a-service offerings.  

This is the 22nd edition of the Global Shipping Report, going back to its debut in August 2021.

On an annual basis, May U.S. container import volumes saw a 3.8% increase, from April to May, coming in at 2,097,813 TEU (Twenty-Foot Equivalent Units) and were down 20.0% annually while seeing a 0.5% annual increase when compared to pre-pandemic May 2019. What’s more, Descartes observed that through the first five months of 2023, with a 1.3% difference for the same period in each year.

Looking at the top 10 U.S.-based ports, the report found that May U.S. container import volume was up by a collective 68,742 TEU, when compared to April, with the Port of Los Angeles posting the largest volume gain, at 56,226 TEU, for a 16.3% annual gain, and the Port of Tacoma leading the way percentage-wise, at 33.3%, at 14,473 TEU. The Port Authority of New York/New Jersey saw a 3.3% increase, to 11,105 TEU, and the Virginia Port Authority, at 12,403 TEU, was up 11.1%.   

And it added that May saw volume share gains for the top West Coast ports, while share at East and Gulf Coast ports was down, with the top five West Coast ports seeing import container volume up 1.3%, to 41.5%, from April to May, and the top five East and Gulf Coast ports down 1.2% to 42.8%. For total share, the top 10 U.S. ports matched April, in May, at 84.3%.

U.S.-bound imports out of China saw sequential gains for the second straight month, with a 5.1% increase, in May, to 780,684 TEU, while being 22.2% below its August 2022 high. Descartes said that China accounted for 37.2% of total May U.S. container imports, marking a 0.4% gain, from April to May, and down from a total high in February 2022, at 41.5%.

And as has been the case in previous months, the two nations following China, for U.S.-bound container imports, was Vietnam, at 20,362 TEU, for a 13.6% increase, and India, at 9,904 TEU, for a 12.0% annual increase.

“U.S. container import volumes continue to climb and track very closely to 2019 levels with support from China, Vietnam and other South and Southeast Asian countries,” wrote the report’s author Chris Jones, EVP Industry Descartes. “Rising port transit time delays and job actions by the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) point to increased global supply chain disruption and further delays in the normalization of freight volumes on the West Coast.” 

The report found that May port transit delays were longer, from April to May, following April, which saw times at their lowest level since the report’s inception in 2021. Descartes defines port delays as the difference measured in days between the Estimated Arrival Date, which is initially declared on the bill of lading, and the date when Descartes receives the CBP-processed bill of lading.

Port of Los Angeles and Port of Long Beach monthly average transit delays (in days), came in at 7.9 and 5.9, respectively, for May, with Oakland, Tacoma and Seattle 8.8, 8.4, and 9.7.