US containerised imports up on recovering housing market
LONDON: US imports of containerised goods rose the most in six months in November as a recovering housing market bolstered consumer demand, according to The Journal of Commerce/piers, which tracks volumes through ports.
Seaborne imports advanced 5% from a year earlier to 1.49 million 20 ft boxes, the biggest jump since May, the Newark, New Jersey-based company said in a statement recently.
Shipments of furniture, which account for about 10% of the total, gained 7%.
Existing home sales rose 4% to 4.42 million units in November, while purchases of new single-family houses gained for a third consecutive month, according to data from the National Association of Realtors and the Census Bureau.
The world’s largest economy expanded 2.75% in the fourth quarter, its fastest pace since the three months to June 2010, according to the median of 68 economist estimates compiled by Bloomberg.
“Weare getting good signals again for the US economy,” Rahul Kapoor, an analyst for investment bank RS Platou Markets AS in Singapore, said by phone.
“We are seeing the US housing market improve with a subsequent increase in demand for household goods and furnishings, so it’s a definite positive for containerised imports.”
The cost of hauling goods in 40-ft equivalent boxes to the US from China jumped 19% to US$1,692 a box in the last week of December, the largest advance since at least June 2010, according to data from Clarkson Securities Ltd, a unit of the world’s largest shipbroker.
Imports from the Asian country in November rose for the first time in eight months, led by demand for cooking and heating appliances, lamps and kitchenware, PIERS said.
The acceleration means greater demand for vessel owners including AP Moeller-maersk A/S and Neptune Orient Lines Ltd.
“A healthy housing market is key to the revival of US containerised imports growth,” Mario Moreno, a PIERS economist, wrote in the statement.
“The question is: are we seeing a self-sustained recovery in home sales? We are not there yet, but getting closer.”