Container volume to U.S., Europe Falls 10 Percent

     Japan’s NYK Line says container volume from Asia to the United States and Europe fell 10.2 percent from September to August in a sharp slowdown during the peak fall shipping season.

    The carrier hauled 101,000 20-foot-equivalent-units in September on eastbound trans-Pacific and Asia-to-Europe lanes in September, a 1 percent improvement over the same month a year but 11,000 TEUs behind the August figure.

    The September slowdown marked an abrupt halt to accelerating growth NYK had seen during the summer, capped by a 10 percent gain in volume on Asia-to-U.S. lanes and an 8 percent increase in Europe-bound containers.

    But the Asia-Europe business, where rates have been plunging to historic lows, weakened sharply in September, falling 12.2 percent from the August level and even 1 percent from September 2010.

    Eastbound trans-Pacific trade was up 3.8 percent over the same month a year ago, but the trade lane scaled back 7.9 percent from August to September.

    The container line still saw volume on the major east-west lanes grow in its fiscal second quarter ending Sept. 30, with Asia-U.S. business up 3.4 percent year-over-year and Asia-Europe flows up 1.5 percent.

(Source:JOC)