Global Shipping Report

From January to February, Descartes reported that U.S.-bound container import volumes fell 6%, to 2,137,724 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU), compared to January and were up 23.3%

From December to January, Descartes reported that U.S.-bound container import volumes rose 7.9%, to 2,273,125 TEU (Twenty-Foot Equivalent Units). And on an annual basis, it found that January volumes were up 9.9%, while posting a 9.6% increase compared to pre-pandemic 2019’s 2,036,393 TEU tally. What’s more, the report noted that the 7.9% sequential increase, from December to January, marked its biggest gain for that period over the last seven years.

From July to August, Descartes reported that U.S.-bound container import volumes eked out a 0.4% annual increase, coming in at 2,196,268 TEU (Twenty-Foot Equivalent Units), while posting a 13.2% annual decline and up 2.5% compared to pre-pandemic August 2019. And on a year-to-date basis through August, imports are down 2.1% compared to the same period in 2019.

From June to July, Descartes reported that U.S.-bound container import volumes saw a 5.1% increase, to 2,187,810 TEU (Twenty-Foot Equivalent Units), which it said is consistent with import gains seen in non-pandemic years, for Peak Season.

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.

In the report, Descartes stated that U.S. container volumes—at 1,853,705 TEU (Twenty-Foot Equivalent Units)—saw a 6.9% sequential increase in March, but fell 27.5% annually and up 4.2% compared to March 2019, a full year ahead of the onset of the pandemic.

For the month of February, Descartes observed that U.S. container volumes—at 1,734,272 TEU (Twenty-Foot Equivalent Units)—were off 16.2% compared to January, while falling 25.0% annually, and down 0.3% compared to February 2019 prior to the pandemic.