Container Volumes Could Drop

The National Retail Federation and Global Insight, in a recent report say the slow economy has prompted merchants to manage inventories very carefully, potentially bringing cargo volumes down 6%. The drop is represented by a projected annual total of 15.5 million twenty-foot-equivalent units (TEUs), down from the August forecast of 15.8 million TEUs. This compares with 16.5 million TEUs in 2007.

Cargo volume each month of 2008 has been below the same period in 2007 and this trend was expected to continue through the end of 2008. Increases expected for the rest of the year are no longer anticipated.