Continued poor consumer confidence will cut north European container imports by almost 9% this year, according to the latest projections from Global Port Tracker.
Global Port Tracker: North European Trade Outlook from Hackett Associates and the Institute of Shipping Economics and Logistics, expects container imports to north Europe to decrease by 8.9% in 2013 to 12.2m teu.
Regional exports are expected to increase by 0.7%.
However, the Mediterranean and Black Sea region is expected to perform better, with imports growing 27.5% to 9.4m teu and exports increasing 16.5% to 7.1m teu.
Double-digit growth in the Mediterranean is expected to drag overall European imports into growth, import volumes jumping 4.1% to 21.7m teu and exports expected to increase 6.4% to 18.1m teu.
Hackett Associates director Ben Hackett attributed the decline in north European imports to weak consumer spending.
“After a disastrous first quarter, both imports and exports are recovering but they have a long way to go and the recovery will be slow as consumers remain hesitant about spending their money,” he said.
“Until there is more certainty about economic policies and reduced unemployment, we shall not see a strong resurgence in consumption.”
The Global Port Tracker figures mirror volume data published by Container Trades Statistics, which shows that carrier volumes from Asia to north Europe dropped by 9.7% year on year in March.
However, the figure for the first quarter was a decline of 2.8%.
The report also monitors container volumes expected to be handled at northern range ports Antwerp, Rotterdam, Bremen and Bremerhaven, and Hamburg.
These ports are expected to see overall container import volumes slide 0.9% to 15.9m teu this year and exports to grow 1.3% to 17.6m teu.
“At the individual port level, there are significant differences in throughputs, with weakness in Hamburg and Zeebrugge and strength in Antwerp, suggesting that trade routes do have an impact on ports’ activities,” said ISL analyst Sönke Maatsch.
“For Antwerp, the forecast projects a 7.6% increase in total moves in the second and third quarter, compared with a 0.6% increase in the same period of the previous year.
“Incoming loaded containers are projected to increase at a faster pace than outgoing containers over the same period, with a 9% anticipated increase versus a 6.5% gain.”
Global Port Tracker: North European Trade Outlook from Hackett Associates and the Institute of Shipping Economics and Logistics, expects container imports to north Europe to decrease by 8.9% in 2013 to 12.2m teu.
Regional exports are expected to increase by 0.7%.
However, the Mediterranean and Black Sea region is expected to perform better, with imports growing 27.5% to 9.4m teu and exports increasing 16.5% to 7.1m teu.
Double-digit growth in the Mediterranean is expected to drag overall European imports into growth, import volumes jumping 4.1% to 21.7m teu and exports expected to increase 6.4% to 18.1m teu.
Hackett Associates director Ben Hackett attributed the decline in north European imports to weak consumer spending.
“After a disastrous first quarter, both imports and exports are recovering but they have a long way to go and the recovery will be slow as consumers remain hesitant about spending their money,” he said.
“Until there is more certainty about economic policies and reduced unemployment, we shall not see a strong resurgence in consumption.”
The Global Port Tracker figures mirror volume data published by Container Trades Statistics, which shows that carrier volumes from Asia to north Europe dropped by 9.7% year on year in March.
However, the figure for the first quarter was a decline of 2.8%.
The report also monitors container volumes expected to be handled at northern range ports Antwerp, Rotterdam, Bremen and Bremerhaven, and Hamburg.
These ports are expected to see overall container import volumes slide 0.9% to 15.9m teu this year and exports to grow 1.3% to 17.6m teu.
“At the individual port level, there are significant differences in throughputs, with weakness in Hamburg and Zeebrugge and strength in Antwerp, suggesting that trade routes do have an impact on ports’ activities,” said ISL analyst Sönke Maatsch.
“For Antwerp, the forecast projects a 7.6% increase in total moves in the second and third quarter, compared with a 0.6% increase in the same period of the previous year.
“Incoming loaded containers are projected to increase at a faster pace than outgoing containers over the same period, with a 9% anticipated increase versus a 6.5% gain.”
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