Today the monthly report from Global Port Tracker was released by the National Retail Federation and Hackett Associates. The report points to import volumes at the U.S. ports that are covered by Global Port Tracker to approximate 1.47 million containers in the month of September. The all time record for U.S. imports was hit in August 2014 when the container count hit approximately 1.53 million TEU’s.
News / Industry News
Shipment Volumes
“August shipment volume increased 2.3 percent, reversing some of last month’s 3.9 percent slide. August shipments are 4.9 percent higher than a year ago and are up 13.9 percent in 2014. The Institute for Supply Management’s August PMI rose 3.3 percent to 59, the highest level since March 2011’s 59.1, indicating that domestic manufacturing is continuing to gain strength. Driving this PMI increase were new orders, increasing by 5.2 percent, and order backlog which climbed 5.1 pcercent.”
On Friday 9/5/14, the Burea of Labor Statistics released their latest “Employment Situation Summary”. For the month of August, total nonfarm payroll employment witnessed an increase of 142,000; with the current U.S. unemployment rate at 6.1%.
China’s State Administration of Taxation (SAT) issued guidance (Bulletin 42) that extends VAT-exempt treatment to all international freight forwarding services. The new rules went into effect on September 1, 2014.
Economic activity in the manufacturing sector climbed in August; for the 15th consecutive month:
“U.S.-NAFTA freight totaled $103.0 billion in June 2014 as all five major transportation modes – air, vessel, pipeline, rail, and trucks – carried more freight by value in June 2014 than in June 2013, according to the TransBorder Freight Data released today by the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS).”
The International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) and the Pacific Maritime Association (PMA) announced Tuesday that they have reached a tentative agreement on terms for health benefits, subject to agreement on the other issues in the negotiations. The parties have agreed not to discuss the terms of this tentative agreement as negotiations continue.
“Consumer confidence increased for the fourth consecutive month as improving business conditions and robust job growth helped boost consumers’ spirits. Looking ahead, consumers were marginally less optimistic about the short-term outlook compared to July, primarily due to concerns about their earnings. Overall, however, they remain quite positive about the short-term outlooks for the economy and labor market.” – The Conference Board
“American Trucking Associations’ advanced seasonally adjusted For-Hire Truck Tonnage Index rose 1.3% in July, following a decrease of 0.8% the previous month. In July, the index equaled 130.2 (2000=100) versus 128.6 in June. The index is off just 0.6% from the all-time high in November 2013 (131.0).”