Drewry: Global container volumes up sharply in Q1

Intra-regional trade is leading the strong growth in container cargo traffic, up 17 percent compared with 7 percent growth in deep sea shipments, according to London-based maritime consultant Drewry.    Container volumes in the first quarter of 2017 were sharply higher than in the same 2016 period, according to a recent report from Drewry citing figures from Container Trades Statistics (CTS).
   A graph on the CTS website indicates global container volumes exceeded 39.5 million TEUs in the first quarter of 2017, which Drewry said in its Container Insight Weekly amounts to a 10 percent increase over the first quarter of 2016.
   “CTS numbers point to intra-regional trade as the primary driver of growth with volumes up by 17 percent versus 7 percent for deep-sea traffic,” said Drewry.
   That’s reflected in the figures CTS published for the Greater China region, which showed intra-Asia trade in the first quarter running 32 percent ahead of last year and China’s domestic traffic 28 percent higher than in the first quarter of 2016, said Drewry. Overall, CTS figures indicated China’s total container trade of 2.6 million TEU in the first quarter of 2017 was 17 percent higher than in the first quarter of 2016.
   Will the fast pace of the first quarter continue?
   Drewry says it’s “too early to call,” and cautions that “we have seen growth spurts before that have fizzled out.”
   It also noted that “the first quarter is traditionally the slowest quarter in the year,” with, on average, 23.4 percent of container trade moving in the first quarter each year. (25 percent moves in the second quarter, and more than 25 percent in both the third and fourth quarters, according to Drewry.)
   The cargo spurt in the first quarter this year could reflect a desire by some shippers this year “to move goods ahead of new and higher contract terms and anticipated spot rate increases,” said Drewry.