SIMIC

According to the McCown Report, east coast and Gulf coast imports helped inbound volumes rise 2.9 per cent in May across the top 10 US ports.

"In May, the overall 2.9 per cent inbound gain resulted from countervailing coastal changes," said Blue Alpha Capital founder John McCown.

"East/Gulf coast ports growth of 11.9 per cent was below April's gain of 14.6 per cent, but above the 6.6 per cent increase in March. In contrast, west coast ports decreased 4.6 per cent, continuing a downtrend from a 3.4 per cent decrease in April and a 0.6 per cent increase in March."

Houston, Charleston, and Norfolk led to the increase in inbound volumes.

Outbound container volumes fell 4.5 per cent year on year in May, adding to drops of 5.2 per cent in April and 12.1 per cent in March.

"Only two of the last 27 months have shown year-on-year increases in overall outbound volume," said Mr McCown.

"These months were April and May of last year when the year over year comparisons benefited from the initial volume declines at the onset of the pandemic."