News
International multimodal cargo imported to and exported from Japan in the first half of fiscal 2014 (April-September) amounted to 53.937 million revenue tons in total, enjoying a double-digit increase of 14.4% year on year, according to a report released earlier this month by Japan International Freight Forwarders Association Inc. It was the first time that a half-year-term volume had exceeded 50 million revenue tons. The report was compiled from responses given by 439 freight forwarders in a survey that JIFFA had conducted among its regular members, which achieved a response rate of 99%.
In the six months in question, imports of international multimodal cargo to Japan grew a steady 11.5% from a year earlier to 34.665 million revenue tons. Despite the depreciation of the Japanese yen, they hit a record high for the seventh consecutive term. By origin, shipments from China, the leading source of multimodal cargo destined to Japan, came back to register a double-digit improvement, soaring 10% to 17.955 million revenue tons. More significant were, however, those from Vietnam, which surged 56.3% to 2.562 million revenue tons, helping the nation finish in second place, a big step forward from the first half of fiscal 2013, when it just ranked fifth.
Meanwhile, exports of international multimodal cargo from Japan increased a significant 19.8% year on year to 20.277 million revenue tons in the April-September period. With a higher growth rate by 14.9 percentage points, they broke the record set in the second half of fiscal 2013. By destination, shipments to China, which returned to a recovery track in the previous six months, rose a steady 4.8% to 3.878 million revenue tons. Coming in second place, those to the U.S. went up 9.2% to 2.87 million revenue tons. Thanks to brisk domestic demand, they grew from a year earlier for two straight terms, registering the first notable growth in a while.
