Container routes continue to decline on European routes

According to preliminary cargo movement trends on major container routes compiled by the Nippon Kaiji Center, cargo movement on routes between Asia and Europe continued to decline year-on-year. The prolonged situation in Ukraine is having an impact. June results for European routes showed that outbound shipments to Europe were 1,329,626 TEU (-9.7% y/y), a decline for the fifth consecutive month, and inbound shipments to Asia were 515,506 TEU (-21.9% y/y), a decline for the 12th consecutive month. On the other hand, outbound shipments from Asia to North America increased for the seventh consecutive month to 1,931,165 TEU (+6.4%) in July, probably due to the easing of the West Coast port cargo handling disruptions. Outbound shipments from North America to Asia were 6,519,184 TEU (-6.4%) in May, a decline for the 12th consecutive month. On the Japan-China route, outbound cargo in June totaled 759,447 tons (-8.0%) for the fourth consecutive month of decline, while inbound cargo in June totaled 2,034,691 tons (+9.0%) for the second consecutive month of increase.