U.S. Imports Slow Down After Extended Peak Season
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Container import volumes in the United States are beginning to slow down, marking the end of an unusually extended peak shipping season that began in May and lasted well into October, according to the latest Global Port Tracker report produced by the National Retail Federation (NRF) and Hackett Associates.
August, the Peak Month
According to the report, August turned out to be the busiest month of 2026, with 2.3 million TEUs handled at the surveyed ports, up 0.4% from July but down 0.7% from a year earlier. This figure displaced September as the previously projected peak month. For September, the forecast was adjusted to 2.28 million TEUs, down from the 2.31 million estimated a month earlier, though it would still represent an 8.2% increase compared to the previous year. October is expected to see a slight decline to 2.25 million TEUs, up 8.5% from 2025, before falling to 2 million TEUs in November.
Analysts' Remarks
Jonathan Gold, NRF's vice president for supply chain and customs policy, noted that regardless of adjustments to the final figures, the busiest part of the year has likely already passed, explaining that the peak season started early and extended through the summer and into early fall, with month-to-month variations that were practically negligible. Ben Hackett, founder of Hackett Associates, stated that the economic outlook remains mixed, with consumers maintaining robust spending levels despite weakening confidence indices and rising inflation.
Records at Individual Ports
The strength of the season was reflected in the performance of specific ports: the Port of Los Angeles recorded its busiest three-month stretch in history during June, July and August, while the Port of Savannah reported a record September, moving 504,015 TEUs, up 3.7% from the previous year.
Outlook Toward 2027
For the full year, Global Port Tracker forecasts that imports at major U.S. container ports will reach 25.8 million TEUs, up 1.4% from the 25.4 million recorded in 2025, a figure slightly higher than the previous month's projection. Looking ahead to 2027, January is expected to close at 2.07 million TEUs, a 1.9% year-over-year decline, followed by 1.92 million TEUs in February, a 1% increase. Gold explained that most holiday merchandise has already entered the country, so the remainder of the year will be limited to last-minute restocking and preparations for the early months of 2027.
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