News
Outbound containers to North America from 18 countries and regions in Asia increased 4% to 1,434,552 TEUs in June, accomplishing the first year-on-year growth in three months and setting a new record for the month in question, according to statistics compiled by the Japan Maritime Center (JMC) with data provided by JOC Group’s Port Import/Export Reporting Service (PIERS).
In the first half (January-June), 8,178,631 TEUs were moved on the trade, reaching an all-time high for the January-June term. Focusing on the second quarter (April-June), however, throughput fell 1.1% to 4,088,000 TEUs due to weak container movement in April and May, incurring the first year-on-year contraction in seven quarters, or since the third quarter (July-September) of 2016.
Looking at containers carried from Asia to North America in the first half by origin, those from China swelled 3.6% to 5,259,922 TEUs; from South Korea, 2.5% to 398,630 TEUs; from Japan, 1.3% to 327,868 TEUs and from Taiwan, 0.2% to 322,570 TEUs.
Shipments from ASEAN countries hiked 4.9% to a total of 1,267,960 TEUs, with improvements posted in almost all. They were made in those from Vietnam, which rose 5.8% to 532,965 TEUs; from Thailand, 6.5% to 263,619 TEUs; from Malaysia, 1.9% to 140,498 TEUs and from Singapore, 9.7% to 48,977 TEUs. On the other hand, Indonesia and the Philippines were the only two economies in the region to incur decreases, with the former exporting 185,716 TEUs, down 0.1% and the latter, 61,297 TEUs, down 2.5%.
Exports from South Asia were brisk across the board, rising 9% to 475,600 TEUs in total. Those from India, for example, surged 10.4% to 351,138 TEUs, while Pakistan’s exports were milder, climbing 2.8% to 51,163 TEUs.
