In fiscal year 2009, the economic downturn delivered a sharp 14 percent decrease in the total volume of U.S. liner exports shipped worldwide. This was in stark contrast to the preceding fiscal year when exports grew by 16 percent. Liner imports to the U.S. also continued to weaken, declining by 16 percent over the fiscal year. While cargo volume decreased between the U.S. and Asia, China remained our leading trading partner in liner cargo. Consistent with the previous years pace over half of all the U.S. liner cargo (imports and exports) was concentrated in trade with nations in northeast Asia. At the end of the fiscal year, over 500 containerships were idle; 10 percent of total fleet capacity in TEUs. However, worldwide containership capacity expanded by 10 percent by mid 2009, as new ships with substantial capacity remain on order. In the largest of the U.S. liner trades, the volume of U.S. export cargo to Asia declined by 12 percent in stark contrast to the growth rate of 18 percent in fiscal year 2008. The worlds container trade contracted about 11 percent in fiscal year 2009, com-pared to a growth of 8 percent in 2008. The U.S. share of the worlds container trades declined again this year to about 19 percent, compared to 20.5 percent in 2008 (and 21 percent in 2007).


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    Title :

    Federal Maritime Commission 48th Annual Report for Fiscal Year 2009


    Publication date :

    2010


    Size :

    142 pages


    Type of media :

    Report


    Type of material :

    No indication


    Language :

    English