March 12, 2026
According to the latest data released by the National Retail Federation (NRF) and Hackett Associates, U.S. ports covered by Global Port Tracker handled 2.08 million Twenty-Foot Equivalent Units - one 20-foot container or its equivalent - in January, although the Ports of New York/New Jersey and Miami have not yet reported their data. That was up 3.8% from December but down 6.4% year over year.
Ports have not yet reported numbers for February, but Global Port Tracker projected the month at 2.01 million TEU, down 1.3% year over year. March is forecast at 1.91 million TEU, down 11.2%; April at 2.03 million TEU, down 8.1%; May at 2.09 million TEU, up 7%; June at 2.1 million TEU, up 6.8%, and July at 2.2 million TEU, down 8%.
Those numbers would bring the first half of 2026 to 12.21 million TEU, down 2.5% from 12.53 million TEU during the same period in 2025. The year-over-year increases in May and June are largely because of the sharp drop-off in imports during those months last year after "Liberation Day" tariffs were announced in April 2025.
Imports during 2025 totaled 25.4 million TEU, down 0.3% from 25.5 million TEU in 2024.
Source: NRF