News
Outbound containers from Japan to China increased 2.4% from a year earlier to 876,550 tons in August, enjoying the first year-on-year improvement in six months, according a report released on Oct. 19 by the Japan Maritime Center (JMC). On a value scale, on the other hand, they decreased 7.8% to \515.6 billion, suffering a year-on-year decline for the sixth consecutive month. Freight rates for shipments from Yokohama to Shanghai were US340 per TEU early this year, bottomed out in May and leveled off from a month earlier at $410 per TEU in August, according to the freight rate indices published by Drewry Shipping Consultants Ltd.
The JMC report, which had been compiled from trade statistics unveiled by the Ministry of Finance (MOF), indicated that container imports from China to Japan, meanwhile, grew 6% to 1,761,473 tons in August, which was the first year-on-year increase in three months. They were, in contrast, sluggish in terms of value, plunging 13.6% to \1 trillion and incurring a year-on-year contraction for five months in a row. Freight rates for containers from Shanghai to Yokohama were around $600 per TEU.
