News
Nittsu Research Institute and Consulting, Inc. (NRIC) recently revised its forecasts for the economy and cargo transport in fiscal 2018 (April 2018-March 2019). It made a downward adjustment on its projection for oceangoing container movement, while international airfreight is expected to mark a year-on-year increase for three years in a row in both directions.
NRIC now envisages that exports of loaded containers from eight major ports in Japan will swell 2%, which was lowered by 0.1 percentage points from its original forecast, to 5.226 million TEUs. It anticipates that outbound container movement will remain on an upward trend across the board. Although exports to the U.S. could slow down due to trade stagnation caused by Washington’s protectionism, it is estimated that as for those to China, auto parts and components will begin picking up in the second half, and that those to the ASEAN nations will continue to be brisk. In respect to imports, NRIC thinks that growth will become smaller in the first half in reaction to the notable improvement made in fiscal 2017. As such, the think tank made a downward revision of 1.1 percentage points, now foreseeing the total of exports and imports will rise 1.7% to 7.511 million TEUs, down from the 5% scored in the previous fiscal year.
As it concerns international airfreight, exports are not envisaged to hike 9.5% to 1.37 million tons, adjusted upward by 2.3 percentage points. Imports, which surged 10.1% in fiscal 2017, are projected to clime a milder 5.1% to 1.259 million tons, revised downward by 0.3 percentage points.
