News
Asia exported 1,028,981 TEUs of containers to Europe in February, plunging 11.9% from a year earlier and suffering a year-on-year decrease for two back-to-back months, according to a report unveiled by the Japan Maritime Center (JMC). In the first two months (January-February), the total fell 6.4% to 2,407,378 TEUs.
Looking at containerized shipments traded from Asia to Europe by destination, those to western and northern Europe went down 12.9% to 663,980 TEUs; to the eastern Mediterranean and the Black Sea, down 7.2% to 187,596 TEUs and to the western Mediterranean and northern Africa, down 13.1% to 177,405 TEUs, indicating that outbound container movement was smaller than a year earlier across the board.
By origin, containers from China incurred a double-digit decrease of 15.4% to total 721,072 TEUs, which was a year-on-year decline for the second consecutive month, but managed to hold the largest share of the pie. Those from South Korea, meanwhile, improved 1% to 72,993 TEUs, enjoying growth from a year earlier for three months in a row. Exports from Japan came in third place, which fell 2.9% to 39,674, registering a year-on-year contraction for two straight months. Ranked fourth were those from Vietnam, which sank 10.2% to 39,343 TEUs, which suffered the first decrease from the previous year in two months. Those from Thailand shrank 0.6% to 37,447 TEUs, recording the first year-on-year decrease in three months.
In February, container imports from Europe to Asia waned 4.4% from the corresponding month of 2015 to 536,780 TEUs, suffering a year-on-year contraction for the sixth consecutive month, according to the JMC report, which was compiled from statistical data provided by Container Trades Statistics Ltd. (CTS) of the U.K. In the first two months, they diminished 3.3% to 1,030,519 TEUs.
By origin, those from western and northern Europe went down 2.8% to 382,770 TEUs; from the eastern Mediterranean and the Black Sea, down 10.6% to 66,452 TEUs and from the western Mediterranean and northern Africa, down 5.8% to 87,558 TEUs, showing that an across-the-board decrease was marked for inbound containers, too.
