Reality Check: U.S. Cargo Executives See Import Su

Reality Check: U.S. Cargo Executives See Import Surges in Sept-Oct Nov 9 / 9:53 EST

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NEW YORK (MktNews) - Cargo entering the U.S. in September and October overwhelmed ports, railways and trucks, gumming up real-time inventory deliveries in what marks the heaviest peak-shipping season ever, industry officials say.

By mid-October there were 94 ships idling around the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles, the nation's gateway for most Asian goods, unable to discharge. The bottlenecks were two-thirds as severe as during the worst of the port lockout two years ago and could leave a misleading impression of slowing imports.

If anything, the trade gap would continue to balloon if undelivered goods were factored in to port data. Indeed, diversions away from southern California are generating record inbound volumes at other ports and are likely to widen the trade gap in September, and more so in
October and November as sea-lanes are cleared.

Despite support from a soft dollar, exports are more ambiguous.
There are complaints that ocean carriers, in their rush to return to schedule, are refusing all but the empty containers they need to bring in more consumer goods from Asia. Others report a substantial export surge.

This import season "has been much more aggressive, earlier and more severe than in prior years," said Capt. Manny Aschemeyer, executive director of the Marine Exchange of Southern California, which oversees vessel traffic in the region. "This peak season is also lasting longer."

But port congestion has reduced the tallies of imports. "It's not a total damning of the river, of course. It's more like watching a sluggish drain in your kitchen sink," he said.

Das Handelsdefizit bläht sich immer mehr auf und wird größer und größer und größer...!