News
Ports in Japan handled an all-time high of 21.39 million TEUs of containerized shipments in total in 2012 (January-December), increasing 1.2% year on year, according to a recent preliminary report.
Containers exported to and imported from other nations also reached a record high, growing 0.1% to 17.52 million TEUs in total.
The overall throughput was made up of export and import containers, feeder containers to and from other countries and domestic containers.
Data on international feeder containers, which were handled at more than 42 ports, were compiled for the first time.
Feeder cargoes are—as with oceangoing shipments—transported to and from overseas countries, but different from them, they were handled via hub ports in nearby nations.
The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT), which unveiled the report on June 28, 2013, indicated that at a port in eastern Japan, export and import containers just accounted for approximately 54% of the total container lifting.
However, adding international feeder containers, the combined percentage was some 98%, indicating that most of the containers moved to and from the port were international cargoes.
