US October imports fall 6.8pc from September, off 4.8pc year on year

US IMPORT volume reached 1.43 million TEU in October, shrinking 6.8 per cent against September's throughput and falling 4.8 per cent year on year, according to the US trade intelligence firm Zepol Corporation.

The report said low import volume was the October surprise because it usually is the month with "some of the highest TEU counts". But in the last two years, the holiday import peak occurred in July and August, Zepol said, adding that it now expects imports to drop for the rest of the year.

Minnesota-based Zepol uses US Customs data from the Automated Commercial Environment (ACE), and excludes empty containers.

Imports from Asia suffered a five per cent fall in October, with volumes from China down 8.2 per cent from September and 2.4 per cent year on year. But Japanese import volume grew 14.2 per cent from September and 1.7 per cent year on year.

Imports from Europe also went into decline with Germany suffering a 16.4 per cent drop from September as Italy fell 7.3 per cent and Belgium went down 19 per cent.

The Port of Los Angeles, which handled 24 per cent of US imports in October, recorded a 6.4 per cent decline in September and 5.7 per cent drop year on year. East coast New York/New Jersey saw a steep decline from September of 24.8 per cent while west coast Tacoma saw a 2.3 per cent increase from September and soared 36.3 per cent year on year.

Most carriers experienced a reduction in October imports from September. Maersk, the world's largest carrier, experienced a fall of 13.5 per cent in October and MSC, the world's second largest carrier, suffered a volume decline of 9.6 per cent. But Singapore's APL increased its volume to the US 12 per cent from September to October and went up 13.6 per cent year on year.

Overall, total US imports from January to October were up 2.6 per cent despite October's decline.