Hisane Masaki, Special Correspondent | Sep 25, 2012 8:03AM EDT
The number of foreign trade containers handled by the Port of Tokyo rose 5.1 percent in the first half of this year from a year earlier to about 2.08 million 20-foot-equivalent units.
According to a preliminary report released by the Tokyo metropolitan government, 957,871 TEUs were exported between January and June, up 4.9 percent, and 1,124,483 TEUs were imported, up 5.2 percent.
Tokyo is Japan’s largest container port followed by Yokohama, Nagoya, Kobe and Osaka. The preliminary report does not give any analysis.
Tokyo handled 22.349 million tons of container cargo in foreign trade in the January to June period, up 4.1 percent from the same six-month period last year. Container cargo exports totaled 6.231 million tons, up 3.8 percent, and container cargo imports amounted to 16.119 million tons, up 4.2 percent.
China and the United States are Tokyo’s largest- and second-largest trading partners in terms of container trade volume. The two countries are also the largest and second-largest export markets and import sources for the Japanese port in terms of container trade volume.
In the first half of this year, Tokyo’s container cargo exports to China increased 5.6 percent year-on-year to 2,352,524 tons, while its container cargo imports from China grew 6.5 percent from a year earlier to 7,717,357 tons.
In the January to June period, Tokyo’s container cargo exports to the U.S. rose 8.5 percent year-on-year to 1,249,441 tons, while its container cargo imports from the U.S. increased 7.4 percent from a year earlier to 1,942,316 tons.
Contact Hisane Masaki at yiu45535@nifty.com.