Zepol Corporation, a leading trade intelligence company, found that U.S. imports for September of 2013 were surprisingly high. September increased by 2% in TEU (twenty-foot-container) volume from last month and 7% from September of last year. Total TEUs for September were over 1.64 million, which beat August as the second highest month for imports in 2013.

“This is an unusually large import volume for September,” said Zepol’s CEO Paul Rasmussen, “U.S. companies may have added an extra month of prep for the holidays this year, as imports for July, August, and September are 3.2% above the same three months in 2012.”

Quick Stats for U.S. Imports in September of 2013:

1. Exporting Countries- U.S. ocean imports from Asia are up 3.6% from August. China, which makes up for over 46% of TEUs to the United States, increased in exports by 5.6% in September. South Korea, another notable supplier of goods, saw a 12.8% increase. European exports to the United States actually decreased from August by 4.6%. Significant decreases in volume were seen from Italy, which dropped in ocean exports by 27.7%. Although, Germany still managed to increase volume by 5.6%.

2. U.S. Ports- Out of the top ten ports in the United States, 50% increased in TEU volume from August. The Port of Los Angeles increased by 11.8% in September, importing almost 40,000 more TEUs. The Port of Tacoma, Washington also had a significant increase in import volume; it handled nearly 15% more TEUs than August. (Click Here to download a free report on the top 20 U.S. ports)

3. Carriers- Maersk Line, the largest U.S. cargo carrier, increased in TEU volume from August by 6% and transported over 118,000 containers in September. Evergreen Line posted an 8% increase from August and brought over 90,000 TEUs to the United States in September. Of the top ten carriers in September, half posted an increase in volume from August.