The imports at major U.S. retail container ports dropped 14.3 percent in February, the National Retail Federation (NRF) said on Monday.
According to the latest available data to show retail container port activities, the NRF said that U.S. ports handled 1.62 million twenty-foot equivalent units, commonly known as TEU, in February.
TEU is a measure used for capacity in container transportation. One TEU usually stands for a 20-foot-long cargo container or its equivalent.
"That was down 14.3 percent from January and down 4 percent year-over-year," said the NRF.
The NRF said that February is "traditionally the slowest month," owning to factory shutdown in Asia during the Lunar New Year, as well as "the lull" between retailers' holiday and summer seasons.
For the outlook of retail imports for the upcoming months, Jonathan Gold, vice president for supply chain and customs policy of the NRF, said that U.S. retailers were starting to stock up for an anticipated strong summer.
The NRF expected the imports at the major U.S. retail container ports to reach 1.63 million TEU in March, which was 5.9 percent higher year on year.
