News
Container exports from Japan to the U.S. grew 10.7% to 54,203 TEUs in June (based on volumes at ports of origin), which was a double-digit improvement year on year for three months in a row, Descartes Datamyne unveiled yesterday.
Direct shipments amounted to 38,550 TEUs, up 19.3%, which have marked a year-on-year increase for eleven straight months since August 2023.
From Tokyo, 16,452 TEUs were exported, up 17.5%; from Nagoya, 11,148 TEUs, up 3.8%; from Kobe, 7,716 TEUs, up 0.8%; from Yokohama, 2,108 TEUs, down 40.9%; and from Shimizu, 321 TEUs, down 5%.
By commodity, machinery held the largest share, totaling 12,778 TEUs, up 5.9%. Ranked second were vehicles, which surged 23.2% to 11,381 TEUs. Rubber decreased 5.5% to 5,716 TEUs, coming in third place. Plastics jumped 16.9% to 5,631 TEUs, finishing in fourth. At the bottom of the top five were electric machinery and equipment, which rose 5.7% to 2,840 TEUs.
Meanwhile, the remaining 15,653 TEUs were transshipped on the way, down 6%. Transshipment (T/S) containers accounted for 28.9% of the total, down by 5.2 percentage points, which have continued to shrink for 11 months running since August 2023.
Looking more closely at containers transshipped in South Korea, 1,807 TEUs were from Kobe, down 19.3%; 1,249 TEUs from Yokohama, up 40.3%; 1,245 TEUs from Hakata, up 1.9% and 1,092 TEUs from Tokyo. Seven major ports were responsible for 7,756 TEUs, down 6.1%, and local ports, 2,458 TEUs, down 3.8%.
Of the containers transshipped in South Korea, 4,568 TEUs were destined to four U.S. East Coast states, which held a share of 44.7% of the pie, down by 1.9 percentage points. Containers from Yokohama to the four states by way of South Korea are on the decline in terms of volume.
In the first half (January-June), Japan’s U.S.-bound container exports totaled 330,025 TEUs, up 11.2% from the corresponding six months of 2023. They consisted of 226,780 TEUs of direct shipments, up 25.7%, and 103,245 TEUs of T/S containers, down 11.2%.
