Intra-regional trade drives global box trade growth

Container trade has grown firmly over the last decade, with much of this expansion driven by trade on the intra-Asian network, according to Clarksons Research.

However, when analysing this growth of terms of TEU-miles, global expansion has been fairly evenly spread between various routes, including the north-south trades in which SA falls. But the deep-sea mainlane trades, which are longer than any other, naturally punch above their weight in terms of TEU-mile growth.

In 2005 container trade totalled 105 million TEU, and this year it is expected to reach 179m TEU.

The mainlane routes, which had historically represented a major growth area of container trade, have expanded at a relatively modest rate in the last decade. This at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 3% per annum, compared to growth of 5.5% per annum in total box trade.

Overall, mainlane trade growth has accounted for only 19% of total container trade expansion over the period. But intra-regional trade (the majority of which is accounted for by intra-Asian routes) has been by far the largest contributor to container trade growth.

It accounted for 47% of expansion in global trade in TEU and growing at a CAGR of almost 7% per annum in 2005-15.

Source: Clarksons Research