Retail container traffic down

December 16, 2008 by Splatty  
Filed under Seafreight

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According to a press release from the National Retail Federation, retail container traffic is down for the 16th consecutive month and is currently on track to be slowest since 2004.

U.S. ports surveyed in the report show that overall container traffic for October is down 5.4% over 2007 volume levels. The ports surveyed handled 1.36 million TEUS during the month of October which is traditionally a heavy peak season month.

Volume is projected to total 15.3 million Twenty-Foot-Equivalent Units for the year, compared with 16.5 million TEU in 2007. That would be a decline of 7.1 percent and the lowest total since 2004, when 14 million TEU moved through the ports. The projection for the year is the same as last month after growing from a 6 percent drop forecast in September and 6.5 percent drop forecast in October. One TEU is one 20-foot container or its equivalent.

December traffic is forecasted to be down 5% over December of 2007.

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