Container imports to the United States reached 21.9 million TEUs in August (based on volumes at ports of origin), falling 12.6% year on year, but increasing 0.8% from July, according to Descartes Datamyne.
At the same time, exports from 10 major Asian economies accounted for 1.55 million TEUs, translating to a drop of 13.1% from a year earlier. This is the 13 consecutive monthly year on year decline for this figure. However, from the previous month, exports from 10 major Asian economies picked up 1.7%.
Outbound containers from Asia to the US totaled 11.25 million TEUs in January-August in a significant 19.6% decrease from the corresponding period in 2022, but were slightly increased than in the same months of the pre-pandemic year of 2019.
Looking at containers from Asia to the US in August, China was responsible for 918,026 TEUs, which shrank 14.4% year on year and has remained on a downward trend for 12 months running.
Those from South Korea were down 14.9% to 155,057 TEUs, from Vietnam, down 10.3% to 148,220 TEUs, from Taiwan, down 15.4% to 76,887 TEUs, and from Singapore, down 1.1% to 70,369 TEUs. Containers from Japan, in contrast, surged 11.6% to 32,664 TEUs.