In January, US container imports surged by 7.9% compared to December 2023, reaching a total of 2.27 million TEUs, as indicated in the latest Global Shipping Report by Descartes Systems Group.
According to JIFFA (Japan International Freight Forwarders Association), these figures also represent a notable increase of 9.9% from January 2023 and a solid 9.6% rise from the pre-pandemic levels of January 2029.
Among the top 10 ports, import volumes experienced a significant uptick of 149,906 TEUs, marking an 8.4% increase from the previous month. Their collective share, compared to smaller ports, rose to 85.4%, up by 0.9%.
Noteworthy increases were observed at major ports like Los Angeles (21.1% or 77,085 TEUs), Long Beach (15.1% or 48,054 TEUs), and Tacoma (12.2% or 5,831 TEUs). However, throughput declined at ports like Houston (3.6% or 6,042 TEUs) and Charleston (4.1% or 4,331 TEUs).
Imports originating from the top 10 countries also saw a substantial increase of 9.6%, equivalent to 146,240 TEUs. Notably, China recorded the highest surge, adding 117,084 TEUs, while Germany experienced the most significant decrease, with a reduction of 2,851 TEUs.
According to a statement, China’s share of total US container imports stood at 39.8%, marking a 2.4% increase from the previous month. However, despite this uptick, imports from China were still lower by 1.7% compared to their peak of 41.5% in February 2022. Nonetheless, these figures represent the highest percentage of US imports from China in the past two years.