Major shipping lines moved a total of 1.125 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) of containers among 13 countries and regions in Asia in June 2017, up 2.1% from a year earlier and the first year-on-year growth in six months, according to Japan International Freight Forwarders Association (JIFFA).
Breaking down this total, dry cargo accounted for 1.06 million TEUs, which improved 1.6%, while the remaining 65,000 TEUs were reefer cargo, which surged 10.7%, said JIFFA in a report.
In the first half of the year, a total of 6.17 million TEUs were carried on the intra-Asia trade, which declined 4.7% from the corresponding six-month period of 2016.
From January to June, Japan exported 697,000 TEUs within the region, which was down 9.2% from the same period the preceding year, and imported 1.065 million TEUs, down 5.1%.
By destination, Japan exports to northern China, central China, Fujian Province and southern China all shrank, contracting 4.7% to 101,000 TEUs, 23.3% to 63,000 TEUs, 0.8% to 6,000 TEUs, and 2.8% to 57,000 TEUs, respectively.
Exports to Hong Kong also diminished, falling 5.9% to 63,000 TEUs. In contrast, those to Taiwan climbed 6.8% to 102,000 TEUs.
Containerized shipments destined for Southeast Asia did not perform well either. Those to Vietnam went down 3.9% to 52,000 TEUs; to Thailand, down 9.2% to 79,000 TEUs; Philippines, down 7% to 22,000 TEUs; Malaysia, down 22.6% to 36,000 TEUs; Indonesia, down 23.9% to 33,000 TEUs; and Singapore, down 16.4% to 14,000 TEUs.
As to imports by Japan, meanwhile, those from northern China fell 11.7% to 132,000 TEUs, and those from central China, down 11.5% to 18,000 TEUs. On the other hand, those from Fujian shot up 9% to 60,000 TEUs and those from southern China inched up 2.9% to 176,000 TEUs. Shipments from Hong Kong slid back 16.5% to 42,000 TEUs, but those from Taiwan improved 5.8% to 90,000 TEUs.
As to shipments from Southeast Asia, those from the Philippines diminished 13.5% to 40,000 TEUs, and from Vietnam 0.1% to 65,000 TEUs. Containers from Thailand declined 4% to 86,000 TEUs, but those from Malaysia soared 16.8% to 41,000 TEUs.
Photo: Xtrememachineuk
