Mainlane container trade volumes are expected to grow by 8% on the peak leg Far East-Europe route and by 6% on the peak leg Transpacific route in full year 2014, according to London-based shipbroker Clarksons.
Stricken by global financial crisis, the global container volumes plunged in 2009, trying to recover ever since.
The first stronger sign of recovery emerged in the second half of 2013, Clarksons data shows, with volumes on the Far East-Europe peak leg trade rising by 8.0% in the first nine months of 2014 compared to the same period in 2013, with Northern European imports performing particularly well.
Clarksons analysis shows that the Far East-Europe trade is projected to grow by a further 7.2% in 2015, to reach 16.6m TEU.
On the Transpacific peak leg trade, volumes rose by 5.6% in the first nine months of 2014 compared to the same period in 2013, when the trade’s estimated full year growth was 4.2%.
In addition, US imports from Asia have grown alongside an improving US economy, which the IMF expects to grow by 2.2% in full year 2014. The peak leg Transpacific trade is projected to grow at a robust rate of 6.0% in 2015 to total 15.5m TEU.
As explained by Clarksons, the extra demand from the peak legs of the mainlane routes has lifted world container trade to a more robust level of growth, expected to average 6.4% in 2014-15.
“In terms of elevating box volume growth back to healthier levels the mainlane recovery has been just what the container world needed,” the shipbroker said.
Source: Clarksons