Coronavirus Shutdowns to Yield Quieter Than Normal February Port Activity, Says NRF

February historically is a slow month for imports, but with the coronavirus causing factory shutdowns in China, activity at major U.S. retail container ports this month is expected to stay even quieter than normal, said the National Retail Federation Monday. U.S. retailers were already beginning to shift some sourcing to other countries because of the trade war, “but if shutdowns continue, we could see an impact on supply chains,” said NRF. U.S. ports handled 1.72 million 20-foot-long cargo containers or their equivalents in December, the most recent month for which actual data are available, it said. That was up 1.8 percent from November but down 12.4 percent from December 2018, it said. It’s estimating January’s activity at 1.82 million containers handled, down 3.8 percent from January 2019, it said. It’s forecasting February activity will be down 12.9 percent year-over-year at 1.41 million containers, it said.