News
Container trade to the U.S. from Japan and 17 other Asian economies decreased 9.7% year on year to 890,000 TEUs in February 2012, according to an announcement made April 23 by the Japan Maritime Center (JMC).
Owing to declines of more than 10% in three housing-related product groups, all of which are leading items on the eastbound route, the total failed to reach the 900,000-TEU line for the first time in 34 months.
Meanwhile, containers from the U.S. to Asia remained on an upward trend in January, growing 4.8% to 569,000 TEUs, which represented a year-on-year improvement for two months in a row.
Looking at February’s eastbound shipments by destination, those from China plunged 15.2% to 542,000 TEUs, which was the first year-on-year decrease in four months, said the JMC, which made the announcement from statistical data provided by the Port Import/Export Reporting Service (PIERS).
