Container Traffic Down 4.2% In Nagoya

Port of Nagoya

 All but one of Japan’s five biggest ports saw their international container traffic shrink in the first half of this year amid growing economic uncertainty at home and abroad.

The situation is likely to continue an economic slowdown in China, Japan’s largest trading partner, and other emerging markets takes its toll on exports. Imports, which primarily come from China, are also sluggish due to a delayed recovery in domestic consumer spending from a sales tax hike in 2014.

Many economists say that the Japanese economy, as measured by gross domestic product, may have slipped into a technical recession in the July-September period, contracting for the second consecutive quarter.

Of the five-largest Japanese ports, Tokyo, Yokohama, Nagoya and Osaka all recorded drops in their international container traffic in the first half of this year, but Kobe managed to post moderate growth.

Overall foreign trade container volume declines are as follows: Osaka, down 12 percent at 953,889; Tokyo, down 8 percent, at 2 million TEUs; Nagoya, down 4.2 percent at 1.2 million TEUs and Yokohama, down 2.8 percent at 1.3 million TEUs.

Exports from the four ports were down: 12 percent at Osaka to 432,726 TEUs; 9 percent at Tokyo to 927,295 TEUs; 4.5 percent at Nagoya to 632,570 and 4.1 percent at Yokohama to 669,682 TEUs.

Imports at the four ports were down: 12 percent at Osaka to 521,163 TEUs; 8 percent at Tokyo to 1 million TEUs; 4 percent at Nagoya to 585,489 TEUs and 1 percent at Yokohama to 598,506 TEUs.

Foreign trade containers handled by Kobe climbed 3.5 percent in the January-June period from the same six-month period of 2014, totaling 1.061 million TEUs. Exports were up 3.3 percent at 565,136 TEUs, while imports were up 3.7 percent at 496,179 TEUs.

Hisane Masaki