Some 6.7 million standard containers were shipped domestically and internationally last week, the Transport Ministry said. — Bloomberg
Beijing: Chinese ports just had their busiest week on record, likely due to exporters racing to get goods into the United States as quickly as possible ahead of tariffs that may be imposed early next month.
Some 6.7 million standard containers were shipped domestically and internationally last week, the Transport Ministry said yesterday.
The almost 6% jump in traffic from the previous week came after a trade truce agreed with Washington earlier in June.
In May, Chinese exports to the United States fell the most since the early days of the pandemic.
The surge in port activity may be driven by Chinese exporters who are trying to get goods to South-East Asia and then onto the United States before the tariff deadline for those nations expires in early July.
It could also be partially due to Chinese companies trying to ship directly to the United States after an agreement reached on May 12 gave them a 90-day window before negotiations end in the middle of August.
May and June look like they may be stronger months for trade from Asia to the United States.
South Korean exports to the country rose in the first 20 days of June from a year earlier, after jumping to near a record in May, while Vietnam, Taiwan and Thailand all reported record shipments to the world’s biggest economy last month.
The number of international flights also stayed at a high level despite the United States ending the tariff exemption for small parcels from China, which had been one of the main drivers of international cargo, the Chinese data showed.
Demand from consumers in other countries for those small parcels is growing rapidly, making up for the drop off in US purchases in May.
Chinese domestic rail cargo also surged last week to a record for this period of the year, while local air cargo flights hit an all-time high last week.
There were more than 2,100 such flights in the week through last Sunday, taking total cargo flights to the second-highest week on record.
Meanwhile, China’s coal glut is resulting in an increasing number of unwanted cargoes being offered abroad.
About 2.5 million tonnes were exported in the first five months of 2025, according to the latest customs data, which is 13% more than the same period last year.
Japan, Indonesia and South Korea were the top destinations. — Bloomberg
