Recently, according to the data released by the Japan Maritime Center, in September, the ten largest Asian economies exported containers to the United States a total of 1.61 million TEUs, an increase of 5.2%, the first year-on-year growth after 13 months.
Meanwhile, 1.42 million containers were shipped by sea from Asia to Europe in August, up 6 per cent from a year earlier and the sixth consecutive month of growth.
Container volume from Asia to the United States is growing
Recently, according to the United States shipping consulting company Descartes Datamyne statistics, in September, the volume of shipping containers sent from Asia to the United States was 1,613,500, an increase of 5.2%, and finally turned positive after 14 consecutive months of negative growth.
The main drivers of growth in September were electrical and electronic products (up 21.7%), steel products (up 14.6%) and plastic products (up 11.8%).
However, even if the data turned positive in September this year, furniture goods still decreased by 0.3%, footwear decreased by 16.5%, toys and sports equipment, clothing goods increased slightly by 2.9% and 4% respectively.
Industry insiders say demand for sea freight remains weak.
By major export region, China, the largest share of shipments to the United States, rose 6% year on year. But other regions seem to be doing better.
For example, Japan increased 61.1% year on year, and Thailand's traffic to the United States increased 31.3% year on year. Japan's strong growth may be influenced by an increase in auto parts, while Thailand may benefit from supply chain shifts.
Among them, China was the largest source of US exports, shipping 942,548 TEUs, up 6 percent from a year ago, the first increase in 13 months.
Shipments from Vietnam and Singapore also performed strongly, rising 0.2% to 153,604 TEUs and 14.7% to 75,904 TEUs respectively.
Exports from South Korea, Taiwan and India, on the other hand, declined 0.7% to 162,331 TEUs, 5.2% to 70,993 TEUs and 2.3% to 70,096 TEUs, respectively.
Container throughput in Japan increased 61.1% year-on-year to 44,545 TEUs. In addition, from January to September, Asia exported 12.861 million TEUs to the United States, down 17.2% year-on-year.
Container seaborne traffic from Asia to Europe continued to grow
Recently, according to foreign media reports, in August, the volume of maritime container transport from Asia to Europe was 1,424,473, an increase of 6%, more than the same period of last year for six consecutive months.
Since the conflict between Russia and Ukraine broke out, European companies have reduced the use of the China-Europe Express train, which connects China and Europe, to avoid passing through Russia and the conflict zone.
From the destination point of view, the eastern Mediterranean increased by 44%, the western Mediterranean increased by 8%, and the sea container traffic from the region that originally imported a lot of containers from China by rail increased significantly.
The completion of new vessels ordered from 2020 onwards has resulted in an increase in supply, but there is not much demand for transport, and freight rates are constantly falling.
Spot freight from Shanghai to Europe was just $581 for the week ending Oct. 20, according to the Shanghai Shipping Exchange.
