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Star Wars toys sales set to boost US containerised toy imports
THE demand for Disney's 'Frozen' toys and gear partially helped reverse the slide in the import of toys to the US in the second half of 2014 after falling for three consecutive years.
This year the attention is all focused on the release of the new Star Wars movie, 'The Force Awakens', this December in cinemas across the world. There's already strong demand for the toys from the movie, which are said to be bulky, taking a lot of space in a 20-foot container, according to IHS Maritime & Trade.
Toy imports are now up for five consecutive quarters, year over year, through the third quarter of 2015, and is expected to end the year up 10.9 per cent for a total 581,053 TEU, after growing 3.5 per cent in 2014, according to PIERS data.
By container volume, China is the largest supplier of toys to the US; accounting for 83.9 per cent of the market year-to-date through September, up slightly from 83.5 per cent over the same period in 2014. Year to date, toy imports from China are up 13 per cent, likely tied to increasing shipments of 'Star Wars' paraphernalia.
Toy shipments from Vietnam are also growing at a remarkable pace, up 28 per cent year to date, after growing 17 per cent last year. Vietnam's sourcing share is also increasing albeit from a small base, from 1.6 per cent share in 2013 to 2.2 percent share year to date.
Port of Los Angeles handled most inbound traffic of toys with a 26 per cent share of the trade in terms of TEU volume in the first nine months of the year, down 3 points from the same period in 2014. Long Beach followed with a 23 per cent share of the trade, down only 1 percentage point from the same period in 2014.
New York and New Jersey and Savannah handled 11 per cent and 10 per cent of the traffic, respectively, up 1 per cent each from the same period in 2014.
Given expectations that the US dollar will continue to gain value through the first half of 2016, and the recent depreciation of the Chinese currency, US import prices of toys will tend to remain subdued at least for the short term and this bodes well for toy imports.
This year the attention is all focused on the release of the new Star Wars movie, 'The Force Awakens', this December in cinemas across the world. There's already strong demand for the toys from the movie, which are said to be bulky, taking a lot of space in a 20-foot container, according to IHS Maritime & Trade.
Toy imports are now up for five consecutive quarters, year over year, through the third quarter of 2015, and is expected to end the year up 10.9 per cent for a total 581,053 TEU, after growing 3.5 per cent in 2014, according to PIERS data.
By container volume, China is the largest supplier of toys to the US; accounting for 83.9 per cent of the market year-to-date through September, up slightly from 83.5 per cent over the same period in 2014. Year to date, toy imports from China are up 13 per cent, likely tied to increasing shipments of 'Star Wars' paraphernalia.
Toy shipments from Vietnam are also growing at a remarkable pace, up 28 per cent year to date, after growing 17 per cent last year. Vietnam's sourcing share is also increasing albeit from a small base, from 1.6 per cent share in 2013 to 2.2 percent share year to date.
Port of Los Angeles handled most inbound traffic of toys with a 26 per cent share of the trade in terms of TEU volume in the first nine months of the year, down 3 points from the same period in 2014. Long Beach followed with a 23 per cent share of the trade, down only 1 percentage point from the same period in 2014.
New York and New Jersey and Savannah handled 11 per cent and 10 per cent of the traffic, respectively, up 1 per cent each from the same period in 2014.
Given expectations that the US dollar will continue to gain value through the first half of 2016, and the recent depreciation of the Chinese currency, US import prices of toys will tend to remain subdued at least for the short term and this bodes well for toy imports.
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