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Container volumes between the Far East and North America dropped 14.8% year on year in May, the first full month to show the effect of US tariffs on transpacific trade demand, while global volumes overall set a new monthly record.
According to newly released volumes figures from Container Trades Statistics (CTS), eastbound trade from the Far East saw 1.7m teu shipped in May, some 300,000 teu less than the 2m teu shipped in May 2024.
It was also around 50,000 teu less than in April this year, which itself showed an 8.2% year-on-year decline over April 2024. However, it is likely that around half the volumes shipped during April 2025 had been loaded on vessels before the tariffs were announced.
CTS data also reveals that transpacific carriers hoping for rapid freight rate rise on the basis of front-loading may have been disappointed. While spot rate indices did grow during the month – the Shanghai-LA component of Drewry’s World Container Index beginning May at $2,590 per 40ft and ending it at $3,736, rise of 44% – the CTS price index for the route, which records both spot and contract rates, grew by a much more modest 5.6%.
Overall, US imports in May on all trades showed a 9% year-on-year decline, although CTS also noted that US imports over the first five months of the year were up 2%, year on year.
Indeed, this year the transatlantic westbound headhaul volumes from Europe to North America have behaved in almost the reverse of the transpacific – marginal year-on-year volume declines in January and February, while March, April and May recorded 7.5%, 3.7%, and 1.3% increases, respectively.
And the double-digit drop in eastbound transpacific volumes was in marked contrast to global volumes, which continue to break all records.
CTS said: “As we approached the halfway point of 2025, global volumes had once again broken records, with May lifting a staggering 16.34m teu —surpassing the previous record of 16.31m teu set in March 2025. This marks a 4.9% increase from April, which had seen a slight drop from March, and a 1.8% rise compared with May 2024.
“While May is traditionally a strong month for volumes, the continued economic uncertainties and tariff changes make this new record particularly surprising, defying earlier predictions of a volume decline,” it added.
The Far East-Europe trades continued to show their surprising strength in May, with headhaul volume of 1.81m teu – a 16.1% year-on-year increase and also a record-breaker – “suggesting that Europe is compensating for the reduced cargo flow to North America”.
European imports on all trades grew 10% year on year, recording 3.4m teu in May. In terms of import growth, Europe was followed by Indian Sub-Continent & Middle East, and Sub-Saharan Africa, which both saw imports up 9% year on year, indicating that trade continues to diversify in the wake of tariff effects, as the year-to-date performance of these north-south trades continues to impress.
CTS commented: “As we move further into 2025, global trade patterns continue to evolve. Despite economic uncertainties, certain ‘smaller’ trades, such as those in Sub-Saharan Africa, have seen significant growth, with imports up 19% year to date. Global volumes are continuing the upward trend witnessed in 2024, with a 4.3% increase over the first five months of 2024.
“However, the key question remains, ‘when will volumes begin to decline due to the ongoing economic shifts, and what impact will tariffs have on global trade?’
“As we monitor these developments, it’s clear that the landscape of global trade continues to shift in unexpected ways.”
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