American consumers just carry on spending — and the amount of containerized imports keeps on rising. October import numbers released Tuesday by Descartes got here in exceptionally strong.
The U.S. imported 2,307,918 twenty-foot equivalent units of containerized goods last month, in response to Descartes Systems Group (NASDAQ: DSGX), which obtains its data from customs filings. That’s up 3.9% yr on yr and 4.7% in comparison with September.
Imports have surged 33% from their recent low in February. October’s inbound volumes were the best since August 2022, back when volumes were still inflated by the one-off pandemic boom.
It was the third best October ever for the U.S. imports, except the boom-inflated months in 2020 and 2021.
China continued to be the highest driver of inbound volumes. In line with Descartes, America imported 886,842 TEUs of containerized goods from China in October, 38.4% of total imports and the best volume from China since August 2022.
Volume up vs. pre-COVID years
This yr’s imports proceed to outpace volumes within the years prior to the pandemic.
Descartes put October’s imports 11.5% above imports in October 2019, 2.5% higher than in October 2018 and 15% higher than in October 2017. (In 2018, importers brought in shipments early to avert the Trump administration tariffs, climbing fall 2018 volumes on the expense of fall 2019 volumes.)
Total imports in January through October of this yr were up 3.4% versus the identical period in 2019, 4.4% versus 2018 and 11.8% versus 2017.
Trans-Pacific rates strengthen
Meanwhile, trans-Pacific spot rates have strengthened recently and remain inside the traditional pre-COVID range.
The Drewry World Container Index (WCI) assessment for spot rates from Shanghai to Los Angeles was $2,175 per forty-foot equivalent unit within the week ending Thursday, up 11% versus the prior week.
Current rates on this lane are 20% below the WCI assessment in 2018, when rates were inflated by the tariff effect, and 38% above 2019 levels, when rates were depressed because imports had been pulled forward by tariffs. The Shanghai-Los Angeles index is currently 33% above 2017 levels.
The WCI Shanghai-Recent York spot index was at $2,616 per FEU within the week ending Thursday, up 3% from the week before.
It was flat versus 2019 levels, down 24% from tariff-boosted 2018 levels and up 9% from the identical time in 2017.
The post What downturn? US imports still rising, highest since boom appeared first on FreightWaves.