Zepol completed the data for January on February 6th in our U.S. Customs trade data tool,
TradeIQ. Import shipments saw a 6.26% decrease from December and a 4.38% decrease from November, reflecting the annual event of consumer demand decreasing after the holiday season. This January did see a small 0.43% increase from January 2009 and it will be interesting to see how 2010 proceeds.
Below is a table showing port regions of the world where shipments originated:
| Port Region |
Jan 2010
Shipments |
Percent Change
over Jan 2009 |
Percent Change
over Dec 2009 |
Percent Change
over Nov 2009 |
| Asia |
500,248 |
1.47% |
-2.66% |
-0.74% |
| Europe |
84,845 |
-6.22% |
-21.67% |
-22.01% |
| Central America (includes Mexico) |
50,472 |
2.59% |
-11.70% |
-7.67% |
| South America |
20,430 |
-1.08% |
-0.40% |
6.91% |
| North America |
7,451 |
-5.74% |
-24.26% |
-27.48% |
| Other |
8,651 |
13.31% |
-1.45% |
5.80% |
| Australia |
6,435 |
-7.04% |
4.45% |
23.30% |
| Africa |
3,855 |
3.60% |
18.29% |
12.36% |
| Total |
682,387 |
0.43% |
-6.26% |
-4.38% |
Over 70% of shipments imported into the U.S. came from Asia, with 37% from China alone; Hong Kong would be the next largest supplier with 10%. For some perspective, the port of Shanghai alone accounts for over 15% of import shipments to the U.S. Shanghai's share has been steadily increasing, seeing 11.5% growth since January 2009 and 5% growth just since November. European ports have not been fairing as well as reflected in the above chart. Shipments from Bremerhaven specifically, the largest European port for exports to the United States, have decreased almost 7% over the last year and almost 22% since December.
Below are the top 10 International Ports shipping to the U.S. by shipment count:
| Port |
Jan 2010 Shipments |
Percent Change
over Jan 2009 |
Percent Change
over Dec 2009 |
Percent Change
over Nov 2009 |
| Shanghai |
103,418 |
11.52% |
1.34% |
5.01% |
| Yantian |
73,853 |
3.97% |
4.12% |
-4.26% |
| Hong Kong |
67,252 |
-2.70% |
4.04% |
1.31% |
| Kao Hsiung |
46,620 |
-1.02% |
-11.71% |
1.73% |
| Pusan |
36,410 |
3.50% |
1.35% |
-16.81% |
| Ning Bo |
27,547 |
4.54% |
-1.38% |
7.75% |
| Singapore |
26,203 |
-15.25% |
-0.46% |
4.74% |
| Bremerhaven |
20,232 |
-6.96% |
-21.95% |
-20.92% |
| Ching Tao |
19,277 |
-11.59% |
-16.03% |
8.86% |
| Antwerp |
15,384 |
17.09% |
-22.27% |
-8.35% |
Zepol's
U.S. Customs trade data is taken from Bills of Lading entered into the Automated Manifest System. The information represents the number of House manifests entered by importers of waterborne containerized goods. This indicator is the earliest data available for the previous month’s trade activity.