News
Oceangoing containerized shipments imported to and exported from Japan are anticipated to total 12.669 million TEUs in fiscal 2013 (April 2013-March 2014), growing 2.9% year on year, according to a Tokyo-based think tank.
Nittsu Research Institute and Consulting, Inc. (NRIC), which recently unveiled a revision of its economic and cargo transport forecasts for the current fiscal year, anticipates that international air cargoes to and from Japan will, on the other hand, fall 1.9% to 2.009 million tons.
NRIC foresees that oceangoing container movement will remain steady until the end of fiscal 2013, as the global economy is on a mild recovery track.
It indicated that exports of containers from nine major ports in Japan (Tokyo, Yokohama, Shimizu, Nagoya, Yokkaichi, Osaka, Kobe, Kitakyushu and Hakata) will increase 3% from a year earlier to 517,600 TEUs.
Thanks to the briskness in consumer spending and the recovery of capital investment, imports are expected to grow more rapidly in the second half (October 2013-March 2014), climbing 2.8% to 749,300 TEUs on an annual basis.
In contrast, NRIC projects that international airfreight to and from Japan will decrease 2.1% year on year to 883,100 tons in total in fiscal 2013, adding that exports will recover only in the second half.
As for imports, meanwhile, electronic parts and components as well as other machinery and equipment are showing signs of recovery, but they are not powerful enough to remain massive until the end of the fiscal year.
As such, the think tank forecasts that imports of international air cargoes to Japan will decrease 1.8% to 1.126 million tons.
