Volumes to persist, says NRF
Ben Hackett, founder of Hackett Associates and in cooperation with the US National Retail Federation (NRF), recently pointed out that US retailers' sales and thus their imports to replenish inventories are set to continue booming throughout H1/2021.
US retailers are projecting that imports in the first half of 2021 will increase 22.1% over the same period last year. Already over H2/2020, US imports from Asia jumped 14.5% compared with the second half of 2019.
"Regardless of whether it's in stores or on retailers' websites, the record holiday season and numbers for 2020 show consumers are buying again and have been for a while," said Jonathan Gold, NRF's vice president for supply chain and customs policy.
Forecasts show that imports will increase 14.6% in January, 26.3% in February, 41%in March, 13.3% in April, 23.8% in May, and 18.2% in June compared to the same months last year. (sh)