In March, U.S. container import volumes increased 0.4% from February, but jumped 15.7% when compared to the same month last year, according to research from Descartes Systems Group, indicating exceptional growth when considering the impact of the Chinese Lunar New Year on the second half of March.
“Considering declining import volumes from China, March 2024 was a strong month and continues the robust performance that began in January 2024,” says Chris Jones, EVP industry, Descartes. “Despite the combined effect of the Panama drought and the conflict in the Middle East, port transit delays showed continued improvement across nearly all the top ports, as March volumes at East and Gulf Coast ports remained stable.”
Key takeaways:
- Compared to February, imports from China continued to decline because of the Chinese Lunar New Year, reflected by a significant volume loss at the Port of Los Angeles for the second consecutive month.
- Port transit delays continue to improve as the drought in Panama and Middle East conflict have yet to impact East and Gulf Coast ports.
- April’s update of logistics metrics monitored by Descartes show that the first quarter of 2024 has been a strong start for U.S. container imports; however, concerns around global supply chain performance are still expected throughout the year because of ongoing conditions at the Panama and Suez Canals, upcoming labor negotiations at U.S. South Atlantic and Gulf Coast ports, Middle East conflict, and the impact of the Baltimore Bridge collapse, which remains to be fully reflected in U.S. container import volume data.
- March U.S. container import volumes remained mostly flat from February, increasing only 0.4% to 2,145,341 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) vs. March 2023, however, TEU volume was higher by 15.7%, and up 20.6% from pre-pandemic March 2019.
