Asia-Europe quarterly trade up 20pc to 3.1 million TEU

FIRST quarter headhaul Asia to Europe container trade grew 20 per cent year on year to 3.1 million TEU from 2.59 million TEU in the first quarter of last year, according to the European Liner Affairs Association.

Volumes were up 3.2 per cent over the previous quarter, when the recovery began. While volumes surged 53.5 per cent in February after experiencing a deep decline last February, the increase narrowed to 10.5 per cent in March.

Europe to Asia trade grew to 1.36 million TEU in the first quarter from 1.12 million TEU in the same quarter last year, with year-on-year growth measuring 9.9 per cent in March, more than 25 per cent in February and over 34 per cent in January.

On the North Atlantic trade, first quarter US to Europe volumes increased slightly more than 14 per cent year on year to 687,200 TEU while Europe to US volumes were up 11 per cent to 722,000 TEU.

(Source: www.schednet.com)