Maritime container volumes bounced back slightly in July after posting weak June figures that were hamstrung by economic uncertainty sparked by rising international tariffs, the shipping consultancy Drewry said in a report today.
Consistent with a trend in recent years, Drewry's global container port throughput index showed an upward bump in July, reaching 134.7 points for an increase of 2.8% (3.6 points) over its mark for the same month last year.
The index had sunk by some 2.5 points in June, prompting Drewry to warn that the maritime container shipping market will face continued disruption in 2019 due to tumultuous trade wars.
Drewry compiles its Container Port Throughput Indices by starting with a base point of 100 representing January 2012 conditions, and then adjusting that number based on monthly throughput data for over 220 ports worldwide that compose over 75% of global volumes.
The firm's most recent report showed that all world regions saw a monthly increase in July, led by North America's monthly growth of more than 8 points (5.8%), followed by Asia-excluding-China (4.7 points).
The index for China, the largest world region, reached 145 points in July, marking its highest point since the inception of the index in 2012. Due to its great size, however, China's growth in percentage terms was only 2.2% over June 2019 and 3.4% when compared with July 2018.
Europe grew slightly faster, with an increase of 2.5% (3.1 points) over June 2019 and 3.7% (4.4 points) over July 2018.
