News
Container exports from Japan to the U.S. amounted to 53,271 TEUs in May (based on volumes at ports of origin), up 16.6% from a year earlier, marking a double-digit year-on-year increase for two months in a row, according to Descartes Datamyne. From the previous month, however, they plunged 15.6%.
Direct shipments accounted for 36,257 TEUs, up 31.6%, a year-on-year improvement for 10 months running. From Tokyo, 13,382 TEUs were shipped, up 16.8%; from Nagoya, 10,770 TEUs, up 51.3%; from Kobe, 7,656 TEUs, up 19.2%; from Yokohama, 3,568 TEUs, up 43.3%; and from Shimizu, 338 TEUs, up 1.8%.
The remaining 17.014 TEUs, 31.9% of the total, were transshipped on the way, down 6.2%, a year-on-year contraction for 10 months running since August 2023. South Korea transshipped 10,822 TEUs, down 4%; China, 2,889 TEUs, down 30.7%; Taiwan, 2,025 TEUs, down 17.6%; and Singapore, 779 TEUs, up 18%.
Looking more closely at containers transshipped in South Korea by port of origin in Japan, 2,238 TEUs were from Kobe, up 31.6%, holding the largest share of the pie; 1,449 TEUs from Tokyo, up 20%; and 1,253 TEUs from Nagoya, up 7.3%. In contrast, those from Hakata and Yokohama both plunged, going down 25.2% to 1,222 TEUs and 37.8% to 893 TEUs, respectively. Local ports, which are other than the seven major ports, were responsible for 2,542 TEUs, up 53.1%, meaning that 23.5% of those transshipped in South Korea were shipped from such local ports. At a time when the pie itself is shrinking, containers from local ports in Japan are on the rise.
Of the containers transshipped in South Korea, 4,256 TEUs were destined to the U.S. East Coast states of Virginia, South Carolina, Georgia and Florida. They accounted for 39.3% of the total, down by 3.3 percentage points from a year earlier. Containers exported from Japan to the U.S. by way of South Korea have constantly been decreasing since Yokohama was directly linked with the U.S. East Coast.
Looking at ex-Japan exports to the U.S. by commodity, major products all marked double-digit rises. Enjoying the top share, machinery jumped 11.2% to 12,633 TEUs; auto-related products, 24.3% to 11,438 TEUs; rubber and rubber products, 14.8% to 6,202 TEUs; and plastics and plastic products, 23.7% to 5,474 TEUs.
