News
Nittsu Research Institute and Consulting, Inc. (NRIC) on Dec. 24 released a report on economic and cargo transport projections for fiscal years 2014 and 2015.
NRIC anticipates that exports of oceangoing containerized shipments from Japan will stay on an upward trend in fiscal 2015. Increases will be registered for auto parts and components, machinery and equipment and chemical products, among others. However, the impact of the depreciation of the Japanese yen on outbound cargo movement will be limited due to developments in overseas local production and procurement. As such, container exports are projected to climb a mild 2.5% year on year to 5.085 million TEUs.
NRIC foresees that imports of containers to Japan will improve 2.8% to 7.454 million TEUs next fiscal year. In particular, machinery and equipment as well as consumer goods, which are a main import commodity, will both be brisk thanks to an increase in capital investment and a recovery in personal spending.
As for international air cargo exports, general machinery and chemical product will remain robust in fiscal 2015 owing to a demand increment, according to the NRIC report. On the other hand, auto parts and components, which have contributed to powerfully raising airfreight movement on the trans-Pacific route, will take a downward turn because of a shift from airborne to seaborne transport. As such, those destined to the U.S. will decrease. Exports of electronic parts and components will decline 0.2% from a year earlier to 974,000 tons, as demand for parts and components made in Japan will become weaker resulting from growth in the supply of low-price smartphones manufactured in China and Taiwan.
The NRIC report said that airfreight imports to Japan are estimated to fall 2.3% to 1.059 million tons next fiscal year, despite an improvement in consumer spending. The weakening of the yen will raise the prices of import goods, forcing the inbound movement of consumer goods to become more sluggish than a year earlier.
