U.S. Imports to Climb in March - Retailers are "carefully stocking up," which indicates that containerized imports should continue to increase into mid-year, according to the monthly Global Port Tracker report released on Monday.
"Retailers only import more if they expect to sell more, so these numbers are a sign that optimism is growing," said Jonathan Gold, vice president for supply chain and customs policy at the National Retail Federation. The Global Port Tracker is published each month by the NRF and Hackett Associates. The report projects that containerized imports in March will increase 10 percent compared to March 2011. Imports are projected to be up 3.6 percent in April, flat in May, up 4.2 percent in June and up 2.8 percent in July compared to the same months last year. For January, the last month for which Global Port Tracker had actual numbers, imports increased 1.3 percent compared to January 2011. The January imports were up 4.4 percent from December 2011. February imports were projected to be down 4.2 percent from February 2011 due to the closure of factories in Asia for the annual Chinese New Year celebration. Global Port Tracker projects that imports in the first half of 2012 will increase 2.4 percent from the same period last year. NRF projects that for the calendar year, retail sales in the U.S. will grow 3.4 percent to $2.53 trillion.
U.S. Retail Sales Up 1.1% in February - Mild winter weather and pent-up demand for autos helped U.S. retail sales rise 1.1 percent from the previous month and 6.5 percent from February 2011, the Commerce Department said. Building suppliers saw a 13.8 percent jump in sales from January as home-improvement retailers enjoyed earlier-than-usual sales of lawn furniture, landscaping supplies and other goods. Automobile sales also continued their recovery, rising 1.6 percent from January. Excluding autos, retail sales rose 0.9 percent, following January's upwardly revised 1.1 percent gain. Sales at gasoline stations jumped 3.3 percent after rising 1.9 percent in January. Excluding autos and gasoline, sales rose 0.6 percent in February after increasing 1.0 percent in January. Gasoline accounted for 11.5 percent of retail sales in February.
Trucking Hiring Increase in February - The trucking industry increased hiring 3.7 percent year-over-year in February, a slower pace than in January, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Trucking employers increased hiring 4.1 percent in January from a year ago, and 3.7 percent year-over-year in December, according to seasonally adjusted data. The increase in trucking employment comes as overall non-farm employment rose by 227,000 jobs in February, a 1.6 percent year-over-year increase. The jobless rate remained constant at 8.3 percent in February, with about 12.8 million persons unemployed, the Labor Department agency said Friday. Overall non-farm payroll rose 0.2 percent in February from the previous month, to 132.7 million, according to the BLS employment situation summary. The trend in the BLS payroll numbers reflects a trucking industry that spent 2011 trying to rebuild a work force decimated during the recession.
CN RR To Build Connection To Edmonton - Canadian National Railway will expand its service to the growing Port of Prince Rupert by adding a container train connection to Edmonton in June. The new connection, which will also bring added service to Calgary, comes as Alberta emerges as one of the fastest growing industrial and consumer based economies in North America. To support the growing region, CN will relocate its Calgary Intermodal Terminal to a larger 680-acre logistics park near the city's airport. "The [$202 million] new logistics park, along with new connectivity to both the Port of Prince Rupert and Vancouver, will provide Alberta fluid access to world markets for consumer goods and industrial materials, as well as two prime export routes for its forest products, plastics and agri-products," said Jean-Jacques Ruest, the railroad's vice president and chief marketing officer. The new facility is expected to open in January. The Port of Prince Rupert's container traffic in 2011 jumped 20 percent year-over-year, while CN, the only major railway to serve the port, saw intermodal traffic rise 8.9 percent in the same period.
U.S. Trade Deficit Hits 3-Year High - The U.S. trade deficit rose to a three-year high of $52.6 billion in January as a 2.1 percent jump in imports outpaced a 1.4 percent rise in exports. It is the largest deficit amount since October 2008, as imports totaled $233.4 billion against $180.8 billion in exports. About a third of the increase in imports was because of a 3.3 percent rise in petroleum imports to $39.1 billion. A 7.5 percent month-to-month drop in the value of shipments lead to a decline in export volume to Europe, which accounts for about 20 percent of U.S. exports, the Commerce Department reported. Shipments of automotive goods registered increases in both directions, reflecting the industry's continuing recovery. Automotive imports rose 10.4 percent from December to a record $25.3 billion while exports increased 9 percent to $12.7 billion, also setting a record. Imports of capital goods such as computers and industrial machinery hit a record $44.7 billion. Imports of food products were a record high of $9.6 billion. The politically sensitive deficit with China, a record $295.5 billion in 2011, rose 12.5 percent to $26 billion in January. The deficit with the European Union dropped 11.7 percent to $8.5 million as an 8.7 percent drop in European imports offset the 7.5 decline in U.S. exports to EU nations.
Source: Journal of Commerce
