News
The Japan Maritime Center (JMC) recently released a report on containerized shipments moved in August 2010 between 18 economies in Asia and the U.S.
Thanks to the back-to-school shopping season in America, eastbound containers grew 20% from a year earlier to 1.25 million TEUs.
They recorded a year-to-date monthly high in 2010 and came close ? by a margin of some 80,000 TEUs ? to their previous August record of 1.33 million TEUs, which was made in 2006.
Meanwhile, the JMC, which compiled the report from Custom statistics released by PIERS of the U.S., added that westbound containers went down 5.5% to 501,000 TEUs, which was a year-on-year decrease incurred for four months in a row.
In August, exports from Asia to the U.S. remained brisk, enjoying a double-digit improvement year on year for seven straight months and continuing to exceed the 1.1-million-TEU line since May.
On the other hand, imports did not, suffering a fall for the fourth consecutive month, due to declines in paper, scrap metal and other major commodities, many of which were bound for China.
As a consequence, outbound containers from Asia to the U.S. rose 17.5% from a year earlier to 8.537 million TEUs on a cumulative scale, or from January to August, and inbound containers, 4% to 4.058 million TEUs.
In August, exports from China to the U.S. soared 20.7% from the corresponding month of 2009 to 829,000 TEUs, reaching the 800,000-TEU mark for the first time in two years and scoring a double-digit increase for four months in a row.
Those from Hong Kong were also massive, jumping 30.5% to 59,000 TEUs.
When combined, containers from China and Hong Kong accounted for 71% of the pie, holding the largest combines share since the beginning of 2010.
Shipments from Japan swelled 17.2% to 51,000 TEUs owing to increases in auto-related products.
Exports from South Korea were even greater stemming from favorableness in general electrical machinery and auto parts, ballooning 36.1% to 58,000 TEUs and exceeding those from Japan for 10 consecutive months.
Shipments from Taiwan climbed 14% to 45,000 TEUs.
