News
Container exports from Japan to the U.S. amounted to 54,292 TEUs in March (based on volumes at ports of origin), down 1% year on year, according to Descartes Datamyne. From the previous months, however, they increased 5.3%.
Direct shipments jumped 10% to 37,269 TEUs; on the other hand, those transshipped on the way plunged 18.7% to 17,023 TEUs. The latter accounted for 31.4% of the total, down from 38.2% in March 2023, which has continued to shrink for seven months in a row. From February, however, there was an expansion. Transshipped in South Korea were 11,320 TEUs, down 19.9%; in China, 11,320 TEUs, up 26.4%; and in Taiwan, 1,395 TEUs, down 58.7%.
Looking at direct shipments, 15,106 TEUs were shipped from Tokyo, down 3%; 10,995 from Nagoya, up 16.4%; 7,400 TEUs from Kobe, down 8.9%; 2,703 TEUs from Yokohama, up 766.3%; and 396 TEUs from Shimizu, up 76.8%. Triple-digit increases have been continued at Yokohama since May 2023.
Containers transshipped in South Korea were mostly sluggish. Those from Tokyo plunged 27.8% to 1,547 TEUs; from Hakata, 21.5% to 1,455 TEUs; and from Yokohama, 43.6% to 1,005 TEUs, although a double-digit growth of 22% was scored for those from Kobe, which totaled 2,099 TEUs.
Of the containers transshipped in South Korea, those moved from Yokohama to the U.S. East Coast states of Virginia, South Carolina, Georgia and Florida, where a new service has been launched, accounted for 4,654 TEUs, or 41.1% of the total, down by 8.2 percentage points from a year earlier. It is estimated that the shrinkage was attributed to the fact that a service from Yokohama to the U.S. East Coast is now operated back on a weekly schedule.
