Exports of containerised shipments to the US from 10 major countries and regions in Asia decreased 0.8% year on year to 1,447,128TEU in January, according to Automated Commercial Environment and bill-of-lading (B/L) data provided by the US Customs and Border Protection (CPB).
For the month of January, throughput remained nearly unchanged for three years in a row.
Looking at eastbound containers by origin, those from China fell 4.5% to 842,206TEU, registering a year-on-year decline for the 12th consecutive month. Exports from South Korea fell 4.1% to 146,599TEU, while cargo from Japan declined more severely, falling 9.2% to 34,192TEU (down 9.3% on a port-of-discharge basis). In contrast, containers from Vietnam soared 39.6% to 120,250TEU, and boxes from Taiwan improved 0.3% to 92,013TEU. Shipments from India were also brisk, surging 10.6% to 43,859TEU.
In 2019, containers from China plunged 15.8% from the previous year to 1,748,420TEU, although they managed to account for the largest part of the pie. They suffered a year-on-year contraction for two years running. From 2017, they plummeted 37.2%. Meanwhile, those from South Korea swelled 1.6% to 744,654TEU, while exports from Japan rose 8.8% to 715,050TEU. Containers from Taiwan increased 4% to 610,981TEU, and cargo from India jumped 14.6% to 561,971TEU.
