The new edition of the Global Shipping Report, which was recently issued by Waterloo, Ontario-based Descartes, a provider of logistics based on-demand, software-as-a-service offerings, showed how United States-bound ocean container volume ended 2025 in close proximity to 2024 levels.
This the 53rd edition of the Global Shipping Report, going back to its debut in August 2021.
December U.S.-bound container import volume—at 2,227,316 TEU (Twenty-Foot Equivalent Units)—saw a 2.0% annual gain, with Descartes noting that it reflects what it called typical seasonal stabilization on the heels of a November drop-off. And for calendar year 2025 it reported that imports were off 0.4% annually, amid periods of strength at different times of the year, driven, in part, by suspected early-year frontloading giving way to slower growth, shifting sourcing patterns, and persistent policy uncertainty.
“For U.S. importers, 2025 was a year marked by volatility, uncertainty and slightly softening demand compared to 2024,” said Jackson Wood, Director of Industry Strategy at Descartes. “As the new year begins, global supply chains continue to grapple with numerous factors weighing on logistics costs and complexities, including ongoing tariff uncertainty, uneven sourcing shifts, and elevated geopolitical risk from Venezuela developments and the Russia/Ukraine, Israel/Hamas and Iran/Israel conflicts.”
U.S.-bound imports originating from China, at 705,789 TEU, were off 1.0%, from November to December, and down 21.8% annually, while also coming in 31% below the peak in July 2024, at 1,022,913 TEU, with China’s share of total U.S. imports, at 31.7%, marking its lowest same-month level over the last six years (2019 at 38.5%; 2020 at 41.6%; 2021 at 41.8%; 2022 at 35.6%; 2023 at 37.4%; and 2024 at 38.1%).
U.S.-bound imports, for the top 10 countries of origin, were up 1.9% sequentially in December, or a cumulative 28,356 TEU, paced by Vietnam’s 5.6%, or 14,711 TEU, increase, and South Korea’s 16.6%, or 12,991 TEU, gain. On the other end, China was down 1.0%, or 7,342 TEU, and India fell 5.9%, or 5,371 TEU.
Other key findings in the report included:
- Container volumes at the top 10 U.S. ports were up 2.0%, or 35,853 TEU, from November to December, with Los Angeles up 9.2%, or 35,948 TEU, and Oakland up 7.3%, or 5,024 TEU, with New York/Newark off 7.6%, or 24,652 TEU; and
- East and Gulf Coast ports market share fell 1.8%, to 39.3%, from November to December, with West Coast ports up 1.4%, to 44.0%, and the top 10 ports handling 83.3% of total U.S. containerized imports, down from November’s 83.8%
