On October 11th, we completed the data for September in our U.S. Customs trade data tool, TradeIQ. Total shipments in September dropped by 7.76% from August, but grew 15.43% over the previous year. All port regions experienced negative growth in September 2010.

Below is a table showing port regions of the world where shipments originated:

September 2010 marks a decline in the growth of shipments seen since March 2010. This decline is likely due to the fact that space shortages on ocean cargo vessels pushed 2010 holiday imports to spike during the summer months instead of in the fall. The graph below illustrates the growth in total shipments to the U.S. from March 2010 - August 2010 and highlights the slight decline in September 2010. We expect shipments to continue decreasing in the fall and winter months.

 

The collection methods used by U.S. Customs for AMS data can lead to an overstatement of shipments for some ports, as imports and exports from Prince Rupert and Vancouver are often recorded as imports for the U.S. Moreover, the data includes shipments from empty containers, may overstate totals from transshipments, and may contain other data anomalies as well.

Zepol's U.S. Customs trade data is derived from Bills of Lading entered into the Automated Manifest System. This information represents the number of House manifests entered by importers of waterborne containerized goods. This indicator is the earliest data available for the previous month’s trade activity.