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Shipping containers from China to the US plunge 13%: What's happening?
Jan 25,2024
According to data recently released by the US research company Descartes Datamyne, in 2023, the volume of sea container freight from Asia to the United States was 17.5085 million TEUs, a year-on-year decrease of 11%, and China's largest share fell by 13% year-on-year. In general, the 2023 Asian to the United StatesSea ContainersFreight volumes were lower than during the COVID-19 epidemic, but up 7% from pre-epidemic (2019).
In 2023, from a shipping location perspective, the number of shipping containers in China fell by 13% year-on-year. This was followed by South Korea, down 4 per cent, and Vietnam, down 8 per cent. It is worth noting that these top-ranked Chinese container shipments have declined. In addition, compared with 219, India's sea container volume increased by 55%, Vietnam's sea container volume increased by 49%, and Thailand's sea container volume increased by 26%. These data show that these production bases are moving to China, and its sea container capacity has increased significantly.
Source: Port Network
In contrast, China's share continued to decline before and after the outbreak. According to PIERS, another data firm, when the U. S.-China trade war began in 2018, Asia sent 1.7805 million TEUs to North America and mainland China contributed 1.1687 million TEUs, accounting for 65.3 percent, falling to 59.8 percent in 2019 and further to 59.8 percent in 2020-2023. Asia sent 16.8526 million TEUs to North America from January to November 2023, with mainland China contributing 9.3498 million TEUs, accounting for 55.5 percent. From January to November 2023, the overall growth of containers sent from Asia to North America decreased by 4.1 percent compared to the same period in 2019.
In terms of commodity categories, family life and online office during the epidemic led to an increase in special requirements such as furniture, with requirements falling sharply in 2023. Furniture and clothing declined YoY, toys and sporting goods declined YoY, and factors of production were lower than in 2022. Electronic motors up 4% was the only category to see year-on-year growth.
However, whether imports of these key commodities rise or fall, China's share is shrinking, not to mention furniture and clothing. At the level of intelligent machines, from January to November 2023, US imports from China fell by 10% year-on-year, while imports from India increased fivefold. At the laptop level, US imports from China fell by 30 per cent, while Vietnam appreciated fourfold. In addition, the U.S. government is also discussing the adjustment of sanctions tariffs, discussing further increasing tariffs on battery cars, photovoltaic power generation related products and high-end commodities, which has significant restrictions on China's export trade.
However, China's exports have increased in other places, but the general background of the decline in container volume and various commodities from China to North America is that the price of China's export commodities has been significantly reduced, and the total export volume has increased by virtue of the advantage of low prices. In renminbi terms, China's exports will grow by 0.6 in 2023. In the year-on-year index of national export commodity trade (classification of national economic industries) released by the General Administration of Customs, from January to November, the price index of 40 small categories of commodities in various industries increased, and the rest were all in a downward trend. Take cars with eye-catching exports as an example. In 2023, China exported 4.91 million vehicles, an increase of 57.9 percent over the same period last year, ranking first in the world for the first time. Among them, car exports increased by 28 percent in November, but unit prices fell by 10 percent. Logistics related people said that many Chinese gasoline vehicles are being exported to the Middle East and Africa at low prices.
As market share continues to expand, new trade risks may follow. At present, the European Union has begun to investigate whether the electric vehicles produced in China are sold at low prices through subsidies. At the same time, India has also started an anti-dumping investigation on Chinese products in September. In this case, not only the North American market, but also the market share of my country's export commodities in other parts of the world may also be squeezed. This indicates that the number of heavy boxes exported by our country will continue to decline. It is worth mentioning that in recent years, the proportion of foreign trade empty containers on China's international routes has increased from 31.6 per cent to 37 per cent.
Despite weak domestic demand, foreign trade remains a key force supporting China's economic growth. Observing the good news of rising container throughput, we still need to pay attention to some trend indicators. China still dominates shipping containers from Asia to North America, but we have to face up to the fact that market share is declining year by year. Under the downward pressure of the economy, quality is better than quantity, which is a problem that we should pay more attention.
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