MINNEAPOLIS — February 9, 2012 — Zepol Corporation, the leading trade intelligence company, reports
that U.S. import shipment volume for January, measured in TEUs, increased 13.4% from December, and
rose 5.8% from January of 2011. The total number of inbound shipments also increased 12% from
December and 6.4% from January of last year. The rise in January 2012 imports is similar to 2011’s
data which also saw a significant increase in January from December of 8.5%. However, this trend
was opposite in 2010 and 2009 which both fell in January from December numbers.
Key Statistics from this Month’s Update:
1. TEU imports from China rose 20% in January from December, while Japanese imports dropped
11.7%. Total TEUs for Asia in January increased by 17%. Imports from Europe were also up 3% in
January with significant rises from the countries of Spain and Turkey, which posted TEU increases
of 12% and 34% respectively from December.
2. All of the top-ten ports increased in TEU imports in January. The number one port for
January was Los Angeles, which saw a 12.5% rise in TEUs. The port of Savannah, GA witnessed a
notable increase of 26% in January, as well as the port of Seattle which increased 19% from
December.
3. For master carriers, the overall rise in shipments was seen in every top carrier for
January. Specifically Maersk Line, which had a 17.5% growth from December. APL also had a large
increase from the previous month of 22%, a happy spike compared to APL’s 13% drop from November to
December. The Mediterranean Shipping Company saw a lull in November to December as well, but a
13.5% increase in January, which is the common trend for overall U.S. imports from 2011 to 2012.
Methodology:
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.
Posted on February 14, 2012
Source: Zepol Corp.
