Back by popular demand, Zepol's lastest report highlights trade activity for the top 20 U.S. ports. The annual report provides detailed import information for each port and compares trends to the previous year as well as sheds light upon potential future developments.

Four Key Insights Found in the Report:

1. The top port in the U.S. by a landslide, the Port of Los Angeles, surpassed all other ports by over 1 million TEUs (twenty-foot-containers) and over 500,000 shipments.
   
2. Based on TEU volume, 11 of the top 20 ports posted positive import growth from 2011 to 2012.
3. The Port of Tacoma saw the greatest growth in 2012, with a 29% increase in inbound TEUs from 2011. 
4. The top 20 ports account for 97% of all TEU imports into the United States.

"Zepol’s latest Port Report provides insights for transportation companies, importers and exporters, steamship lines, and suppliers," says Zepol’s CEO Paul Rasmussen. "More recently, trade professionals have a growing need to know what’s happening at the ports and this report gives great detail on last year's port activity from a performance standpoint and a good picture of the movement of goods in the United States in 2012."

U.S. imports for March decreased by 15% from February and by 12.5% from March of last year. The drop is mainly due to Chinese factories closing their doors during the Chinese New Year. Even though U.S. imports have now decreased for two consecutive months, quarter one of this year is still slightly above last year, by 0.11%.

You can read more about March's imports in our Press Release Here.

  Methodology:
Zepol’s data is derived from Bills of Lading entered into U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s Automated Commercial Environment (ACE). This information represents the number of House manifests entered by importers of waterborne vessel goods. This is the earliest indicator for trade data available for the previous month’s import activity. The data excludes shipments from empty containers, excludes shipments labeled as Freight Remaining on Board (FROB), and may contain other data anomalies.       

U.S. imports for February were unexpectedly high this month. Total TEUs were up from last February by over 15%, even with one less day. February imports haven't been this high since 2008, making this the second month in a row that has posted pre-recession levels of imports. Although, as expected from a short month, imports were down from January by about 5%, which is what we typically see from January to February.

You can read more about February's imports in our Press Release Here.

  Methodology:
Zepol’s data is derived from Bills of Lading entered into U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s Automated Commercial Environment (ACE). This information represents the number of House manifests entered by importers of waterborne vessel goods. This is the earliest indicator for trade data available for the previous month’s import activity. The data excludes shipments from empty containers, excludes shipments labeled as Freight Remaining on Board (FROB), and may contain other data anomalies.       

According to Zepol's online database of U.S. ocean imports, TradeIQ™, September TEUs are down 3.6% from August but up 2.6% from September of 2011. Q3 imports for 2012 are also up 3.8% from Q3 of 2011. The third quarter of the year is generally the highest for U.S. imports because businesses are stocking up for the holiday season and looking at the rise from Q3 of last year, retailers must be expecting higher sales in 2012.

Methodology:
Zepol’s data is derived from Bills of Lading entered into U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s Automated Commercial Environment (ACE). This information represents the number of House manifests entered by importers of waterborne vessel goods. This is the earliest indicator for trade data available for the previous month’s import activity. The data excludes shipments from empty containers, excludes shipments labeled as Freight Remaining on Board (FROB), and may contain other data anomalies.