Containerized Imports Shrank 9% in December

Zepol Corp., a provider of trade intelligence, reports that import shipment volume for December 2010, measured in twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs), decreased 9.49% from November and increased 4.03% over December 2009. The total number of shipments fell 8.48% from November and increased 3.68% over last December.

For 2010, total import shipments were up 14.19% over 2009 and down 0.82% from 2008. 2010 TEUs showed similar numbers, up 15.82% over 2009 and down 2.09% from 2008.

Ports on the Pacific Coast showed the greatest increases for 2010 over 2009 with an increase of 18.18%, compared to the Atlantic Coast with 13.40% and the Gulf Coast with 13.40%. The Pacific Coast is bouncing back after decreases of 16.81% in 2009 and 10.02% in 2008.

Seasonal shipping trends dictated the decrease for TEUs and shipments from November to December. Every month in 2010 increased over 2009 for TEUs with a monthly average of 15.85%, with June representing the largest jump of 27.99%.

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.

Zepol Shimpents and TEU Trend
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