Due to the continuing trade war between the US and China, containerised exports to the US have slumped by 6.5 per cent to 3.87 million teus in the first five months compared to 4.14 million teus in the year-ago period, data from Alphaliner shows, as per a report.
However, despite the trade war tensions, China remains by far the largest origin of US containerised imports even though its share has reduced from 46 per cent in 2018 to 42 per cent this year.
Overall, US container imports during the January-May 2019 period still grew by 2.8 per cent year-on-year to 9.31 million teus from 9.06 million teus as most other cargo origin countries recorded volume increases.
The next 15 largest exporters to the US after China recorded a gain of 12.1 per cent in container volumes during the January-May 2019 period, as their combined share of US container imports grew from 35 per cent to 39 per cent. But, at 3.6 million teus, the 15 countries’ combined volume was still smaller than China’s at 3.87 million teus.
