March 12, 2026
U.S. ports handled 2.08 million twenty-foot equivalent units in January
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