Asian seaborne container traffic to the US rose 10 percent in July from a year earlier.

According to Descartes Datamyne, a US-BASED research firm, container traffic by sea from Asia to the US rose 10.6 percent in July from a year earlier to 1,178,641 20-foot containers.It has been 13 months in a row higher than the previous year, hitting a record high in July alone.  The figures reflect strong consumption in the US market, where the flow of goods shows no signs of abating.

In the first half of 2020, traffic dropped sharply due to COVID-19, but this year it rebounded, and it also increased by 28 percent in the first half of this year compared to the first half of 2019.  Traffic in June was up 29% from a year earlier, the 12th straight month of outpacing the previous year.

Concentrated boxes from China accounted for more than 60 percent of the transport volume.  The bulk of the increase continued to be in home consumption-related products such as furniture and appliances, as well as in autos, reflecting strong "home home" demand in the United States.  Semiconductor shortages have affected some car production and containerized demand is lacking momentum.  

With the flow of goods maintained at a high level, congestion at the port will take longer to resolve.  From July onwards, the shipping season for the new school year and Christmas will begin, so the freight rate is likely to remain high.