The Nowcasts of Global Kuehne + Nagel Indicators (gKNi) have shown an upward trend in container volumes for the world’s largest ports.
Despite trade tensions, the container volumes for ports in the US and Asia have reached new record highs in May, according to the data collected by LogIndex — part of the global transport and logistics company Kuehne + Nagel Group.
Based on the country forecasts available for May and June, cargo and container throughput in the world’s largest ports has risen by 3.2% over the year to date, with the biggest increase of 6.2% in Singapore.
The LogIndex data indicates heavy traffic in top ports such as Los Angeles, Long Beach, New York or New Jersey, with a trend of inbound loaded container volumes increasing while the quantity of outgoing loaded TEU decreases.
LogIndex data for Port of Long Beach: Forecast for new record in May 2018
A metric for inbound TEU in Long Beach, alongside the Port of Los Angeles the gateway for trans-Pacific trade, is up by 11% compared to the same period in last year, according to LogIndex estimates for May.
Four months into 2018, the Port of Long Beach has moved 2.5 million TEU, 17% above last year’s record pace.
Read a Port Technology technical paper on how to navigate the dry bulk market
In an announcement on the gKNi findings, LogIndex stated that there are “no direct ramifications” owed to lingering trade tensions, with other imports statistics implying a business-as-usual mode.
The import of iron and steel reached an eight-month-high in April — an increase of 75% for the year on year based on LogIndex’s analysis of Bills of Lading.
LogIndex data on US: The import of iron and steel reached an 8-months-high in April
LogIndex added that some commentators had suggested that trade tensions were causing part of the strong growth due to a rush by “anxious shippers” to get their cargo to overseas markets.
In its analysis, LogIndex stated: “World trade is inching up. There are regional differences – Asia is very dynamic, in contrast to Europe, digesting the high euro during the first quarter.
“The United States, Australia, Canada are the fastest growing countries in the group of Advanced Economies, posting a year-over-year rate of 4.7% compared to 16.1% of Emerging Markets (LogIndex’s estimates for May).”
