U.S. import shipment volume for April, measured in TEUs, increased 7.95 percent from March and 5.68 percent from April  2010, according to Zepol Corp., a trade intelligence company. The total number of shipments also increased 7.25 percent from March and nearly 6 percent from April 2010. Year to date, total TEUs are up 7.74 percent this year over last year.

Key Statistics from this month's update:

1. Shipments departing from ports in Asia took a sharp upward turn in April, increasing 13.57 percent from March. Shipments from China in particular contributed greatly to this increase, exhibiting a rise of 27 percent. Conversely, shipments originating from South America and Europe took a downward turn, decreasing 10.48 percent and 6.58 percent respectively from March.

2. West coast ports saw a large influx of shipments in April, not surprising news as shipments from Asia were up. The Port of Long Beach saw a noteworthy increase, posting their highest number of imports, measured in shipments, for the year (126,874 shipments).

3. Evergreen Line carried a record amount of TEUs for the year in April, increasing TEUs by 30.56 percent from March. While the majority of carriers exhibited a decrease of TEUs from Japan for April, Evergreen Line saw an increase, up 14.26 percent from March and 2.23 percent from last April.

Zepol's data is derived from bills of lading entered into the Automated Manifest System. This information represents the number of House manifests entered by importers of waterborne containerized goods. This is the earliest indicator for trade data available for the previous month's import activity. The data excludes shipments from empty containers, excludes shipments labeled as freight remaining on board, and may contain other data anomalies.

Source: Zepol Corporation