US-based ratings agency Moody’s forecasts continued, albeit modest, growth for container volume at US ports in 2016.

The report by Moody’s Investor Service foresees steady but not dramatic increases in container volume for American ports. By numbers it forecasts just a 3% to 4% increase in container traffic at US ports as compared to 5% for this year.

It explains that trends for weaker global demand and a stronger US dollar will drag against strong exports but this will be more than offset by likely increases in imports to America because of the gradually improving domestic economy.

The report is part of a series of outlooks on various business sectors all around the world.

Moody’s is one of the big three ratings agencies along with Standard & Poor’s and Fitch Group.