In June, container exports from Asia to Europe reached 1.59 million TEUs, marking an 8% increase compared to the previous year, according to data compiled by the Japan Maritime Center (JMC) and provided by the U.K.’s Container Trades Statistics (CTS).
This rise in shipments, driven mainly by increased exports from China, has continued to climb for 16 consecutive months.
Breaking it down by origin, China and Hong Kong together accounted for 1.25 million TEUs, a 10.5% increase; Southeast Asia contributed 196,474 TEUs, up 4.1%; while other Northeast Asian economies saw a decrease to 140,450 TEUs, down 5.8%.
Regarding destinations, North Europe received one million TEUs, up 10.7%; the Eastern Mediterranean saw 295,283 TEUs, up 1.4%; and the Western Mediterranean had 292,150 TEUs, an increase of 6.2%.
The JMC notes that the spike in demand just before the European Commission (EC) imposed higher import tariffs on Chinese EVs in July was particularly effective, and they will be monitoring future effects closely.
On the other hand, container imports from Europe to Asia totalled 537,854 TEUs in June, a slight 0.1% decline, marking the first year-on-year decrease in two months.
By origin, imports from North Europe were 367,940 TEUs, down 1.9%; the Western Mediterranean contributed 89,264 TEUs, up 2.7%; and the Eastern Mediterranean added 80,650 TEUs, a 5.5% increase.
In terms of destinations, containers sent to China reached 261,581 TEUs, up 1.7%; Southeast Asia received 152,923 TEUs, down 5%; and other Northeast Asian economies had 123,349 TEUs, up 2.4%.
For the first half of the year, exports from Asia to Europe grew by 6.7% to 8.75 million TEUs, while imports from Europe increased by 0.3% to 3.19 million TEUs.
