So far for this year, April has shown the highest number of TEU imports, with over 1.52 million TEUs imported, and the second-largest number of shipments, with 756,000 processed. Although April imports are high, summer numbers may get higher; the trend for the past five years has shown further increases in May as well as spikes in July and August.

Key Statistics from this Month's Update

1. U.S. imports from China, measured in TEUs, increased in April by 18.7% and are up from April of 2011 by 6.1%. Hong Kong also had a dramatic increase in TEU imports by 22.4% from March. Total imports from Europe were down 3.1% from March with its largest U.S. exporting country, Germany, down 5.9% and Belgium, Europe's third-largest exporter, down 16.2% in April.

2. Nine out of the top-ten U.S. ports saw increases in TEU imports in April. The Port of Los Angeles rose 14.7% from March imports and 2.2% from January's high numbers. The Port of Savannah had the largest TEU increase of the top-ten U.S. ports at 17.7%; Savannah also posted its largest TEU numbers since September of 2011. The Ports of Newark and New York combined posted an increase of 11% in April.

3. The majority of vessel-operating common carriers (VOCCs), increased in April from March. At the top of the list was Maersk Line, which rose by 19.4% from March. The number two VOCC for April was the Mediterranean Shipping Company which increased by 2.5%. Of the top-ten VOCCs the largest increase was seen by APL Group, which had a 20.5% rise in April TEUs.

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 vessel goods. The data excludes shipments from empty containers, excludes shipments labeled as freight remaining on board, and may contain other data anomalies.

Source: Zepol Corporation