Monthly Musings May 2025

U.S. Container Imports Hold at 2.4 Million TEUs

Source | Descartes

• Month-over-Month: Increased by 1.2% 
• Year-over-Year: Rose by 9.1%

• Port Dynamics: West Coast ports gained share and posted double-digit volume growth, while East and Gulf Coast ports saw mixed results with declines in Savannah and Charleston.

• Transit Delays: Despite higher volumes, average transit delays across the top 10 ports hit record lows, with major improvements in Tacoma, Savannah, and Norfolk.

The Logistics Managers’ Index (LMI) Rises to 58.8 in April

Source | the-lmi.com

• Month-over-Month: Increased 11.2% from March’s 52.9 reading.

• Inventory Levels: Decreased by 4.2 points to 57.1, indicating a slowdown in inventory accumulation.

• Inventory Costs: Increased by 5.0 points to 75.6, reflecting higher expenses associated with holding inventory.

• Warehousing Capacity: Rose by 3.1 points to 55.4, suggesting a modest expansion in available storage space.

• Warehousing Utilization: Increased by 0.4 points to 60.1, showing a slight uptick in the use of warehousing resources.

• Transportation Utilization: Decreased by 0.7 points to 53.3, indicating a minor reduction in transportation activity.

• Transportation Prices: Climbed by 5.8 points to 62.3, signifying rising costs in transportation services.

Manufacturing PMI Contracts to 49.0

Source | ISM.com

• New Orders: 47.2% (+2.0) – Contracting at a slower pace.
• Production: 44.0% (–4.3) – Returned to contraction after two months of expansion.
• Employment: 46.5% (+1.8) – Slight improvement but remains in contraction.
• Supplier Deliveries: 55.2% (+1.7) – Slower deliveries, indicating increased demand.
• Inventories: 50.8% (–2.6) – Growth slowed but remains in expansion.
• Customers’ Inventories: 46.2% (–0.6) – Continued contraction, signaling low inventory levels.
• Prices Index: 69.8% (+0.4) – Prices increasing for the seventh consecutive month.
• Backlog of Orders: 43.7% (–0.8) – Contracting at a faster rate.
• New Export Orders: 43.1% (–6.5) – Sharp decline, lowest since April 2020.
• Imports: 47.1% (–3.0) – Returned to contraction after three months of expansion.

ATA Truck Tonnage Index Declines 0.3%

Source | Trucking.org

• Month-over-Month: Decreased by 0.3%, falling from 113.3 in March to 113.0 in April.

• Year-over-Year:  Increased by 0.1%, marking the fourth consecutive annual gain, though the smallest in that series.

• Quarterly Performance: The index has declined a combined 1.8% over March and April, following a 2.8% surge in February.

• Not Seasonally Adjusted Index: Registered at 112.0 in April, down 2.2% from March’s reading of 114.6.

Retail and Food Services Sales Saw Marginal Increase

Source | Census.gov

• Month-over-Month: Increased by 0.1% to $724.1 billion.
• Year-over-Year: Rose by 5.2% compared to April 2024

• Key Drivers: Motor vehicle and parts dealers saw a 9.4% year-over-year increase, while food services and drinking places experienced a 7.8% rise. 

Cass Freight Index Shows Modest Growth in April

Source | Cassinfo.com

• Shipments: Increased by 0.4% month-over-month; decreased by 3.6% year-over-year
• Expenditures: Rose by 3.3% month-over-month; up 1.2% year-over-year, marking the first annual increase in 28 months.
• Inferred Freight Rates: Grew by 2.9% month-over-month; increased by 5.1% year-over-year, indicating rising costs per shipment.