by Lloyd's List
7 August 2025 (Lloyd's List) - GLOBAL container traffic weakened slightly in June on the previous month, despite coinciding with the temporary pause on US tariffs. But this failed to dent what materialised as a robust showing in the first half of 2025 for the liner business.
The latest official figures for the sector collated by Container Trades Statistics shows boxes moved globally by carriers at 16.1m teu in June, down 3.4% on May, which was the busiest ever month for container shipping when teu figures topped 16.6m teu.
Volumes were up 2.6% on June 2024. This put total through the first half of 2025 at 93.5m teu, representing a rise of 4.5% on the January-June period last year, according to CTS data.
“The first six months of 2025 reflect the surprisingly strong growth in volumes, continuing from 2024,” said CTS chief executive Nigel Pusey.
Container shipping’s resilience in the first half of 2025 has been underpinned largely by strong market sentiment outside North America, where trade numbers have felt the force of the uncertainty surrounding US tariff policy.
Imports into Europe have fared particularly well. Although trade into Europe dropped back 8.4% in June, imports to the continent were still up 7.2% through the first six months of 2025 on last year, CTS figures show.
“Three other regions — the Indian sub-continent and Middle East, South and Central America and sub-Saharan Africa — have all registered increases of above 7.5% for the first six months, most notably sub-Saharan Africa, showing a 14.4%, most notably in West Africa,” said Pusey.
He also noted how in response to the US-China trade war, imports from China to these three regions surged 16% in the six months through to June 30 on the corresponding period, in a clear sign of shifting cargo movements in response to hiked levies.
However, with the 90-day reprieve on US tariffs extended to China in May, there was a seismic upswing in exports from the country hitting US shores.
CTS data shows volumes from China into the US in June increasing 50% from May, helping elevate total North American imports in the latest monthly reporting period by 7.4% in the process and 4.4% on June last year.
In June, there was also a strong showing from headhaul transpacific traffic, which reported a stark reversal in fortunes from previous months, as volumes jumped 18.9% from May and 4.6% over last year. Year-to-date traffic through to June was up 2.3%.
This, said Pusey, reflected the “pent-up demand and uncertainty” of months prior.
On the Asia-Europe route volume growth was subdued in June at just 1.3%, however, this had little impact on the strong performance in overall volumes for the first six months of 2025, with volumes still registering an impressive 8.9% increase, noted Pusey.
Meanwhile, total exports from Asia in June continued in the same vein as earlier in the year, helping lift first-half growth to 6.5%. CTS data shows exports from the Indian Subcontinent and Middle East, South and Central America and Sub-Saharan Africa also registering growth of 14%, 14.4% and 23.6% respectively, which helped to offset a 2.6% fall in North American exports in the first six months of 2025. While an improvement on previous months, this still reflects “trading uncertainty”, said Pusey.
Reflecting on the first six months of 2025, Pusey said that robust global demand, largely followed the pattern established in 2024.
“Whether this trend will continue is less certain, but the data has continued to surprise commentators so far this year. Shipping companies and shippers will be seeking some certainty, but that seems unlikely in the short term.”
The CTS Global Price Index increased to 86 points in June from 78 points the previous month. The rate index, which is weighted on both the spot and contract markets, is though still down on last year, when in June 2024 its level was recorded at 101 points.
