The Asia-Europe container trade rebounded in the third quarter from the deep declines in traffic during the first half of the year, driven by a surge in shipments on the eastbound trade from Mediterranean ports.
Traffic in the third quarter is still down from the same period in 2008 but the rate of decline has slowed compared with the previous two quarters, the European Liner Affairs Association said.
“In other words, there are clear signs of recovery,” according to the Brussels-based group that represents the major ocean container carriers serving Europe.
Shipments from Europe rose 10 percent in the third quarter from the same period in 2008 to 1.46 million 20-foot equivalent units, with growth focused on the Mediterranean. This compares with declines of 16 percent in the first quarter and 2 percent in the second, the ELAA said in its latest report.
Traffic from Asia to Europe was down 12 percent in the third quarter at 3.14 million TEUs against 3.58 million TEUs a year ago but this marks a major improvement on declines of 22 percent in both the first and second quarters.
Traffic from the Indian sub-continent and the Middle East to Europe rose 6 percent in September, the ELAA said.
Overall traffic on the Asia-Europe trade totaled 13.6 million TEUs in the first nine months of 2009 compared with 16.7 million TEUs in the same period in 2008.
The Europe-North America trade was still mired in recession in the third quarter with westbound shipments down 15 percent from a year ago at 736,642 TEUs while eastbound traffic was 25 percent lower at 636,216 TEUs.
This represents an improvement over the second quarter, when westbound volume fell 22 percent from the 2008 period and eastbound traffic slumped 35 percent.
China accounted for 45 percent of all containers imported in Europe in the first three quarters of 2009, according to the ELAA.
The Journal of Commerce Online
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