Nice entry, Mish. It would be interesting to see how the value of goods coming in has changed.
As you have illustrated, the greatest containerized export the US has is air (empty containers). After that we ship mostly things like scrap paper, scrap metal, hay (yes, containers of hay), and other low valued goods.
From anecdotal information I believe a decent portion of the drop in import containers is due to the fall in home furnishings, including home furniture, patio furniture, ceiling fans, light fixtures, blinds, etc. These items are very bulky and don't take a lot of product to fill a container.
The drop in home furnishing imports is a fallout of the housing and credit bust.
Some other bulky items that may be down include bicycles, toys and games, and home decor.
FWIW, TEU is commonly used in shipping language for describing volume and ship capacity, but so is FEU (Forty Foot Equivalent Units). The 40' container is considered the industry standard length now. Shipping companies hate handling 20' containers, and they now often charge 80% of the 40' rate for 20' containers.
Domestic rail containers go 40', 48', and 53' long. Internationally the standards are 20', 40', and 45', with 45 high cube containers (9'6" tall) the largest commonly carried.
Some shipping lanes are allowing the larger 48' and even 53' containers, but they are still very rare and not the norm. |
