Retail Group Expect Imports To Rise

The National Retail Federation expects imports in the first half of the year to be slightly lower than in 2015, but said volume would likely grow again in the second half. According to its monthly Global Port Tracker report, released Tuesday, ports handled an estimated 1.4 million twenty-foot-equivalent units, or TEUs, in February. NRF expects this number to decrease to 1.35 million containers in March, then increase to 1.61 million containers in July, in line with the typical inventory buildup leading to the summer. In total, NRF expects volume to decrease 0.2% to 8.8 million TEUs in the first half compared to the same period a year earlier. Read more at The Wall Street Journal.