July Imports Spike ‘Clearest Sign Yet’ of Robust Holiday Quarter, Says NRF

U.S. ports in July handled 1.92 million 20-foot-long cargo containers or their equivalents, 2.3% fewer than a year earlier but up 19.3% sequentially from June, said the National Retail Federation Wednesday. Actual July port traffic was 9% higher than predicted a month ago. August was estimated at 2.06 million containers, a 6% year-over-year increase and a record monthly high, said NRF. “Retailers are importing far more merchandise for the holidays than we expected even a month ago,” it said. “Some of these imports are helping replenish inventories that started to run low after consumers unleashed pent-up demand when stores reopened. But this is the clearest sign yet that we could be in for a much happier holiday season than many had thought.”